This Huge American Company Didn't Exist a Decade Ago

Health and Healthcare

Published: February 12, 2021 9:00 am

Rome was not built in a day, and neither are multibillion-dollar corporations. The Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. public companies by revenue is dominated by decades-old and even century-old companies.

Still, there are a handful of exceptions. Every year, new startups are formed and conglomerates are restructured. In some cases, these companies soon report revenues high enough to rank among the largest U.S. companies. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a range of sources, including the Fortune 500, to identify America’s biggest company that did not exist 10 years ago.

While there have been dozens of notable startups in the past decade, many that might yet make the Fortune 500, every company large enough to rank on this list was formed after a larger company divested some of its business. In these cases, the billions of dollars in annual revenue are largely attributable to the customer base and infrastructure established when the company was part of a larger conglomerate.

It is important to note that while the list includes companies that spun off from larger ones, we did not consider companies formed after a merger.

Each company on the list of finalists for the top spot is headquartered in the United States, and many have operations across the country and around the world. Here is a list of the largest company by revenue in each state.

Biopharmaceuticals company AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was founded on Jan. 1, 2013, as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT). It is the largest American company founded in the past decade. While the new Abbott Laboratories would focus on diagnostic and medical devices, AbbVie was founded to focus on research-based pharmaceuticals. Today, AbbVie’s product lines include the rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira (which accounts for 61% of the company’s revenue), as well as the cancer treatment drug Imbruvica and the hepatitis C treatment Mavyret. AbbVie reported $33.3 billion in net revenue in fiscal 2019, the 99th largest revenue of any public U.S. company. That number likely will grow when it releases 2020 earnings.

AbbVie shares have risen by 8% in the past year. That is less than the S&P 500, which was 16.6% higher over the same period. Nevertheless, the company’s market cap has grown to $183 billion. That makes it among the most valuable companies in America. Its growth should improve this year. Research firm Zacks recently pointed out, “While the historical EPS growth rate for AbbVie is 21.4%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company’s EPS is expected to grow 17.5% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 8.1%.”

Click here to see America’s biggest companies that didn’t exist a decade ago.