U.S. Steel ranked immediately after Jersey Standard in the original Fortune 500’s top ten.
The inaugural list, published in 1955, ranked companies by revenue. General Motors stood first, followed by Jersey Standard—Standard Oil of New Jersey, later known as Exxon—and then U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel reported roughly $3.25 billion in revenue for the figures used in the published ranking.
The original top ten illustrated the industrial character of mid-century American business. Oil, steel, automobiles, electrical equipment, meat packing, and other heavy industries dominated the list. General Electric followed U.S. Steel, while Esmark, Chrysler, Armour, Gulf Oil, Mobil, and DuPont completed the group.
A frequent source of confusion is the name Jersey Standard. It was not a separate modern company competing with ExxonMobil under that name; it was the historical identity of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Another mix-up comes from later rankings, whose order changed as companies grew, merged, or declined. This question refers specifically to the 1955 inaugural ranking.