Apple’s fortunes just keep improving — literally. The Cupertino, Calif. maker of iconic consumer electronics reached 56 in Fortune magazine’s Fortune 500 list, rising 15 spots in the annual ranking of corporate success. Apple’s $36.5 billion in revenue for 2009 put it just behind 10th-place HP ($114.5 billion) and 38th-place Dell ($52.9 billion.)
The 26th-most-profitable company on the list, Apple’s $5.7 billion 2009 profit put it ahead of entertainment giant Walt Disney and McDonald’s. However, rivals Microsoft and Google continued to beat Apple’s profits.
Apple investors in 2009 more than quadrupled their traditional rate of return, receiving a 146.9 percent return rate, compared to 23.4 percent, which had been standard from 1999.
Making Fortune‘s list of wealthiest companies was only the latest PR win for Apple. In March, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was named #136 on Forbes‘ list of world billionaires. Jobs was also named “CEO of the Decade” by Fortune magazine in late 2009.
[via AppleInsider]
