Quick Read
- Amazon.com reported $716.9 billion in 2025 revenue, surpassing Walmart Inc.’s $713.2 billion.
- This revenue performance positions Amazon to claim the No. 1 spot on the upcoming Fortune 500 list.
- Walmart had held the top position on the Fortune 500 for 13 consecutive years.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw its fastest growth in years, driven by demand for AI infrastructure.
- Walmart’s online sales grew by 27% in the last quarter, demonstrating its digital transformation efforts.
NEW YORK (Azat TV) – Amazon.com has officially eclipsed Walmart Inc. as the largest U.S. company by revenue, marking a historic shift at the pinnacle of the Fortune 500 list. Based on its robust Q4 2025 earnings, Amazon reported $716.9 billion in revenue for the full year 2025, narrowly surpassing Walmart’s $713.2 billion. This development ends Walmart’s dominant 13-year reign at the top and signals a profound transformation in American corporate power, reflecting the ascendance of e-commerce and technology in consumer behavior and market dynamics.
The change, which will be formalized with the publication of the next Fortune 500 list in June, places Amazon as only the fourth company ever to hold the No. 1 position, alongside Exxon, General Motors, and Walmart itself. Walmart had been the largest U.S. company by revenue for 21 of the last 24 years, a testament to its unparalleled scale in traditional retail.
Amazon’s Ascent and Walmart’s Digital Dominance
Amazon’s rise to the top is largely attributed to its diversified business model, which extends far beyond online retail. While its e-commerce operations continue to grow, a significant driver of its revenue and profitability is Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing division. AWS recently reported its fastest growth in years, fueled by the surging demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure and services from companies globally, according to NPR.
Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, who previously built AWS into a highly profitable enterprise, has continued founder Jeff Bezos’s strategy of relentless innovation and a “day one” culture. This approach emphasizes agility and a willingness to drop underperforming businesses without sentimentality, allowing the company to constantly adapt and expand into new sectors.
Beyond Retail: The Evolving Amazon-Walmart Rivalry
The dethroning of Walmart by Amazon is not merely a symbolic shift but highlights an intensifying rivalry that now spans multiple industries. Both corporate titans are increasingly competing for consumer dollars in areas well beyond their traditional retail and e-commerce battlegrounds. This includes ventures into artificial intelligence, streaming services, and media content, signaling a broader technological arms race.
While Amazon’s market capitalization topped $2 trillion in 2024, Walmart’s market value surpassed $1 trillion earlier this month, demonstrating the continued financial strength of both companies. The U.S. market remains the largest and most crucial battleground for both, as Amazon pushes for the lowest prices and Walmart successfully attracts high-income shoppers, its fastest-growing segment.
Innovation and Adaptation: How Walmart Responded
Despite being eclipsed, Walmart is not a company in decline. Its initial slowness to embrace e-commerce posed an existential threat, but it ultimately spurred a significant reinvention. Under former CEO Doug McMillon and current CEO John Furner, Walmart embarked on a comprehensive transformation in 2014, modernizing its business practices and corporate culture.
This strategic pivot has yielded substantial results. Walmart’s online business grew by 27% last quarter, and the company has established a strong lead over Amazon in the critical segment of grocery delivery. John Furner, a long-time Walmart executive who previously headed Sam’s Club (which serves as a tech incubator for the company), has been instrumental in making Walmart a more tech-forward retailer. The company has also invested in its own AI initiatives, including a shopping assistant and various retail technologies, to compete effectively in the evolving digital landscape.
The Future of Corporate Leadership
The ongoing rivalry between Amazon and Walmart exemplifies a dynamic where competition drives innovation. Fortune reported that Amazon’s ascent has ironically made Walmart a stronger, more modern company, with its revenue and market cap reaching all-time highs. The pressure from Amazon forced Walmart to adapt, tolerate calculated failures, and prioritize the innovation needed to remain relevant in a rapidly changing market.
This historic reshuffle at the top of the Fortune 500 underscores a fundamental shift in the global economy, where technological prowess and diversified digital services are increasingly paramount, even for companies rooted in traditional retail. The intense competition between Amazon and Walmart, rather than leading to one’s demise, appears to be pushing both to unprecedented levels of innovation and market reach.