The infographic depicts the many years of steady advancement made by America’s biggest businesses, going back as far as 1955. It is a window into not only the rise of new industries but also the certain decline of some older ones. It offers a clear view of the technological coups that American companies have scored. And it very nicely encapsulates the way those technological triumphs have been turned (and are being turned) to the service of what seems to be a nicely defined set of changing consumer priorities that have emerged over the past 60 years or so.
Industrial Giants in the Lead (1955-1970s)
The manufacturing economy of the mid-20th century was primarily a push from industrial growth. This was especially true for heavy industry. There were two main companies at the top during these years and for the next decade: both of them made cars, and both were part of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers. In this era, the American automobile industry was the best in the world, and it never built a better car than it did during the 1960s. The unquestioned leader of the pack was General Motors. Following closely behind was Ford Motor Company. Rising demand for automobiles came from the same people who were building houses and those who were building the interstate highway system, and the awesome power of the unfettered consumer was driving endless suburban sprawl. Three other giants, however, fueled this growth along America’s roadways. Each of them was, and is, an oil company: Standard Oil of New Jersey, Texaco, and Gulf Oil.
A significant influence had yet to be felt in the retail sector, and technology, in the form we now know it, was hardly a gleam in anyone’s eye. The business landscape was still one of industry and resources—companies that made things, or more often, that made things in large quantities and sold them to other companies or nearly seven billion people around the world. If you wanted an exemplar of that world, you could have looked to General Electric, and it would not have been in vain. It was as good as any other manufacturing company in this country or anywhere around the world, and it was better than most at general and specific innovation.
Superficially Appear to Diversify (1971-1973)
In the 1970s, the world was undergoing a shift triggered by the global energy crises. Yet, this new order momentarily appeared to favor Big Oil, with companies like Exxon and Chevron showing up increasingly in the top 10 rankings and even in the top 5 of revenues. By 1973, however, not just “Big Oil,” but also “Big Computers,” was on the scene, with the likes of IBM now in the uppermost echelon of American business. And while it’s easy to think they were simply an upshot of Nixon’s 1971 decision to devalue the dollar, the appearance of these enormous diversifiers with significant computer hardware and software revenues was actually somewhat misleading.
Other companies, like GE, maintained control but started diversifying what they offered to remain competitive. The landscape was largely devoid of retailers, but that was about to change with the emergence of the consumer economy.
Power Moves in Retail and Consumer Goods (1980s-1990s)
The late 1980s and 1990s brought fresh retail titans, among them Walmart—a phenomenal, burgeoning powerhouse already well on its way toward offering one-stop, discounted convenience. By the 1990s, Walmart had become the world’s largest retailer, and just about any top-of-their-industry sales or leadership chart a person might stumble upon seemed to feature not just an industry giant but also an industry killer. (To use a branded term from that era, Walmart was “the big enchilada.”) Meanwhile, the whole retail and consumer goods universe was doing quite well.
Even though IBM and a handful of other big-name tech firms had a solid standing, the tech industry as a whole was not wielding the kind of clout it does today. The corporate world was still largely powered by oil companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron—firms that reaped huge profits during the years when the energy sector was on top.
The Technology Takeover (2000s)
The 2000s were the decade when technology companies really began to take on the old powerhouses of oil, manufacturing, and retail. By that time, Apple and Microsoft were two of the giants in an economy that was still reeling from the dot-com bust and coming back to life, with firms like Amazon and eBay also beginning to hit their stride. Yet it was clear that the real threat to the old economic power structures was emerging from Silicon Valley. By the end of the decade, Wal-Mart’s market cap had been cut in half while the market caps of the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) continued to soar.
The 2010s and Beyond: A Digital Economy Emerges
The 2010s were truly the decade of technology, and not just technology in the form of products. By this time, every interaction between businesses and consumers seemed to be dominated by tech in one form or another. Amazon and Apple were so big and so profitable that their financial results could challenge any oil or manufacturing behemoths. AT&T’s lead in the fragrance industry, meanwhile, was based on some very shaky accounting.
Technology and e-commerce experienced dramatic growth during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, with revenues soaring at companies such as Amazon. Despite a contracting U.S. economy, many of the nation’s largest corporations profited during the year; in particular, those in the technology sector found themselves basking in record-breaking returns. But even within the tech and e-commerce arenas, there are unfolding narratives about how retail carriers are adapting to unprecedented new demands and how some old-line companies are resisting the trend toward a fully “hyperdigitalized” retail world.
Corporate Odyssey and Epiphanies: A Narrative in Corporate History
This timeline provides a clear visual of the whims of corporate power and the necessity of adaptability. As corporate supremacy shifts from manufacturing and oil to retail and tech, society at large undergoes major transformations—urbanization, globalization, the digital revolution—that bring new working environments to both corporate employees and consumers.
