America’s Largest Private Companies

Rankings of companies by revenue normally include only those which are publicly listed and therefore required to publish financial figures on a regular basis. But there are also some hidden giants among companies which have avoided stock markets and, in the process, too much attention.

According to a list published today by Forbes, the biggest private companies in the United States – and in the world – are Cargill and Koch Industries with 2022/23 revenues of around $177 billion and $125 billion, respectively. Somewhat behind are Publix Super Markets and Mars with annual revenues between $47 billion and $55 billion. According to Investopedia, this makes them about as big as the biggest non-U.S. private company, IKEA.

Compared with the world’s biggest public companies, however, Cargill would only make rank 30. Forbes said that their list of America’s biggest private companies was extremely stable and that 65 percent of businesses had been on the list that comprises 200 some companies for at least ten years.

Business services companies Deloitte, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and EY were excluded from the ranking as their corporate headquarters are located outside of the United States. Also not included are tax-exempt companies (e.g. tribal enterprises), mutually-owned businesses, cooperatives and majority-owned subsidiaries.