Amazon Surpasses Walmart to Top the Fortune 500 for the First Time
Driven by strong growth in retail and cloud services, Amazon recorded $717 billion in annual revenue and surpassed Walmart to become the largest U.S. company. Despite recent large-scale layoffs and cost reductions, Amazon’s AWS growth far outpaced its retail business and became the company’s core growth engine.
What are the key facts?
- 1Amazon 2025 revenue: $717 billion
- 2Walmart 2025 revenue: $713 billion
- 3AWS sales: $129 billion
- 4AWS year-over-year growth: 28%
What happened?
Amazon replaced Walmart at the top of the Fortune 500, ending Walmart’s 13-year lead. Amazon reported $717 billion in 2025 revenue, slightly above Walmart’s $713 billion. Growth was driven mainly by AWS, which generated $129 billion in sales and maintained 28% year-over-year growth in the first quarter of this year, while North American retail grew 12%.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
Amazon’s rise to the top reflects the platform’s expanding traffic and ecosystem influence. Sellers should monitor algorithm upgrades driven by AWS technology and leverage the scale of its retail ecosystem in their planning.