What larger Fortune list is described as the Fortune 500's superset?

The Fortune 1000 is the larger Fortune list that serves as the Fortune 500’s superset. It ranks the 1,000 largest U.S. corporations by revenue, so the 500 companies in the Fortune 500 occupy the upper portion of that broader universe.

Fortune introduced the 500 in 1955, but the original ranking was narrower than today’s version. It concentrated on industrial companies whose revenues came from manufacturing, mining and energy exploration. Separate companion lists covered sectors such as banking, retailing, utilities, life insurance and transportation.

The Fortune 1000 provides a wider view of corporate America. Companies ranked from 501 through 1,000 are still substantial businesses, but they fall below the Fortune 500’s revenue cutoff. The list can include both public companies and private companies when reliable revenue figures are available.

Readers often confuse the Fortune 1000 with the Fortune Global 500. The former covers qualifying companies associated with the United States, while the Global 500 ranks the world’s largest corporations and includes companies headquartered in many countries. Fortune 100 and Forbes Global 2000 are separate rankings, not extensions of the Fortune 500.