What's the biggest (US) company you've never heard of?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So, here is a handy list of the Fortune 500, with their websites. For no real reason, I was wondering about big companies that a lot of people haven’t heard of. As you look down that list, what’s the first company that makes you go, “what do they do?”

For me, it’s #10, Valero Energy. I mean, I used my keen power of deduction to decide that they were probably in the oil and gas industry, but I had never heard of them before. $137B in revenue, 22K employees. I had no idea they existed.

There’s no point to this. I’m just bored.

2

McKesson was the first one for me.

3

Valero (10) was the first one I wasn’t 100% positive I knew what they did. I’ve heard of them but couldn’t place them.
I’d never heard of Cardinal Health (22).

4

Number fifteen, McKesson, was the first one I didn’t immediately recognize. Number 22 was the next, then 25, then 28, 38, 54, then I got bored too. :smiley:

5

For me, it was #28, AmerisourceBergen. I suspected that they might be a HR outsourcing firm, but it turns out that they seem to be a generic healthcare conglomerate.

Valero has gas stations in many areas, including much of Virginia.

6

Phillips 66.

7

Interesting. What part of the country do you live in (assuming you’re in the US)? Phillips seems to have gas stations in a lot of the US.

8

McKesson.

9

Same here, but I’m not in the US.

A surprise: IBM has greater revenues than Microsoft.

10

Me, too. Valero has a lot of gas stations around here, but two years ago (before we moved) I wouldn’t have known them.

11

McKesson.

12

I think Phillips 66 is more of a Midwest and west coast thing - I can’t recall ever seeing a Phillips 66 station east of Chicago.

13

Phillips66.

I lived in California for 20+ years and never encountered them.

14

#62, CHS Inc.

But I’ve worked with business schools/students in several regions of the country, so that has expanded the number of them I could easily point to what they do.

15

Berkshire Hathaway, never heard of them, but then I am in the UK so that maybe isn’t surprising.

16

McKesson for me. I’ve seen Valero gas stations as well.

17

You’ve probably heard of Warren Buffett, its chair/CEO.

18

Never heard of them either, here in the US. Warren Buffett seems to be involved in the company in some way, given the web page listed.

19

I only know them because we sued them a few years back. Otherwise, I would draw a blank too. And even after that, I had no idea they were that big.

For me it’s Cardinal Health

20

I’d heard of Berkshire Hathaway, but wasn’t sure what they did. McKesson is the first one I’d never heard of.