For much of the 20th century, General Motors ruled the American economy. In 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000, the company was either the first- or second-largest company in the country (as measured by revenue). By 2015, the company had fallen to the sixth slot on the list, displaced by the likes of Walmart, Berkshire Hathaway, and Apple.
It’s tough to overstate how much the economy has morphed since the 1960s, but the graphic below, from Slant Marketing, offers a cool way to visualize these changes. The graphic illustrates the economic contributions of the top 20 companies in the Fortune 500, broken down by industry:
As the graphic illustrates, the auto industry’s economic power has declined in recent years, while the retail, banking, and computer sectors have grown. And there is, of course, one consistently dominant sector in the American economy: oil.
