For the first time in its history, Nasdaq was named to the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies by revenue, joining an esteemed list of public and private companies whose combined revenue represented two-thirds of the U.S. economy in 2020. This milestone comes as Nasdaq celebrates its 50th anniversary, reaffirming its strategic vision to reimagine global markets through technology and innovation.
“We’ve been a company for 50 years, and for this event to occur during our 50th year is pretty amazing,” says Nasdaq President and CEO Adena Friedman. “It has been an aspiration to be a part of the Fortune 500 for many years now.”
Nasdaq’s inclusion in the Fortune 500 reflects its strong growth and resiliency over the past year, despite facing significant challenges due to the pandemic, unprecedented market volatility and an overnight shift to virtual operations.
In 2020, Nasdaq reported a record net revenue of $2.9 billion, which was up 15% from the year prior. The strong full-year results followed a record fourth quarter, which brought in $788 million in net revenue, an increase of 22% from last year’s comparable period. As of June 2021, Nasdaq had $5.6 billion in revenue and $933 million in profit.
In total, the Fortune 500 companies generated $13.8 trillion in revenue, $859 billion in profits and $32.7 trillion in market value. Altogether, the companies employ 29.1 million people globally.
Other companies that joined the Fortune 500 list for the first time include T. Rowe Price, Jefferies Financial Group and Square. This year’s list also featured 41 companies led by women CEOs, including CVS’ Karen Lynch, General Motors’ Mary Barra and Citi’s Jane Fraser. This record number comes at a time when diversity is increasingly important to investors, as research shows that more diverse executive teams are more likely to have above-average profitability.
Most recently, Fortune named Friedman as one of the World’s Greatest Leaders in 2021 for her ongoing work to help increase diversity in corporate boards. Under Friedman’s leadership, Nasdaq has been working to advance diversity and drive corporate governance transparency through its proposal to standardize disclosure framework. If approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the new listings rule would require most Nasdaq-listed companies to have, or explain why they do not have, at least two diverse directors, including one who self-identifies as female and one who self-identifies as either an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+.
These efforts are an extension of Nasdaq's Purpose Initiative, which seeks to advance inclusive growth and prosperity for all by reimagining investor engagement and increasing capital markets participation, particularly for women and under-represented communities.
“I always say, ‘Complacency is the killer of every great company,’” Friedman said. “So, we are looking to improve every single day.”