Few companies operate for more than a century, and many falter after they hit the century mark. Retailer Sears, Roebuck & Co. opened its first store in 1892, eventually becoming the largest store chain in the country. Today, it operates less than two dozen stores, which means it has basically disappeared.
On the other hand, some of America’s most famous companies, started in the early 20th Century – or earlier – have survived. Henry Ford started making automobiles in 1903. AT&T began operations in 1885. But the oldest company in the Fortune 500 got its start more than a century earlier – Bank of New York Mellon, which traces its origins to 1784.
Experts on corporate history sometimes debate why some companies succeed and others go out of business. Sears did not evolve into a big-box discount retailer as Walmart did, and with e-commerce becoming a critical part of the retail landscape, Sears did not try to compete with Amazon. Ford might have been destroyed as dozens of other car companies started over the first third of the 20th Century. GM eventually grew larger, but Ford stayed near the top in its industry. (These are America’s oldest car brands.)
According to a study by management consulting firm McKinsey, the average lifespan of a company on the S&P 500 list of publicly traded enterprises was 61 years in the late 1950s. In 2016, it had fallen to just 18 years. Today, companies are merged, bought out, or simply go belly up at a much faster pace than they used to.
The longevity of companies reported by another index, the Fortune 500 – which compiles the largest 500 U.S. publicly traded and private corporations based on revenue – is comparable, according to Mark Perry, senior fellow of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. Perry found that in 2019, only 52 companies have been on the Fortune 500 list since its inception in 1955.
Click here to see the oldest companies in the Fortune 500
Why only about one in 10 of these companies have lasted for at least 64 years is a matter for academic discussion. One popular explanation is the concept of creative destruction, which says that in order to innovate, we need to dismantle the old. Companies, therefore, cease to exist (at least in their original configurations) when they’re supplanted by companies involved in newer industries and innovations. (These are the 55 oldest continuously sold products in America.)
To determine the oldest company in the Fortune 500, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on Fortune’s website, ranking companies based on their founding date. Data on annual revenue and the number of employees also came from Fortune.
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50. Marsh & McLennan
>Founding date: 1871
>Revenues: $17.22 billion
>Number of Employees: 76,000
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49. Jones Financial (Edward Jones)
>Founding date: 1871
>Revenues: $10.17 billion
>Number of Employees: 50,000
Source: zodebala / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
48. Exxon Mobil
>Founding date: 1870
>Revenues: $181.50 billion
>Number of Employees: 72,000
Source: Mario Tama / Getty Images
47. Goldman Sachs Group
>Founding date: 1869
>Revenues: $53.50 billion
>Number of Employees: 40,500
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46. Kraft Heinz
>Founding date: 1869
>Revenues: $26.19 billion
>Number of Employees: 38,000
Source: traveler1116 / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
45. Campbell Soup
>Founding date: 1869
>Revenues: $9.05 billion
>Number of Employees: 14,500
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44. Graybar Electric
>Founding date: 1869
>Revenues: $7.27 billion
>Number of Employees: 8,200
Source: Courtesy of pacificlife.com
43. Pacific Life
>Founding date: 1868
>Revenues: $10.06 billion
>Number of Employees: 4,083
Source: dolgachov / Getty Images
42. Packaging Corp. of America
>Founding date: 1867
>Revenues: $6.66 billion
>Number of Employees: 15,200
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41. Sherwin-Williams
>Founding date: 1866
>Revenues: $18.36 billion
>Number of Employees: 61,031
Source: MarianVejcik / iStock via Getty Images
40. CenterPoint Energy
>Founding date: 1866
>Revenues: $8.84 billion
>Number of Employees: 9,541
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39. MetLife
>Founding date: 1864
>Revenues: $67.84 billion
>Number of Employees: 46,500
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38. U.S. Bancorp
>Founding date: 1863
>Revenues: $25.24 billion
>Number of Employees: 68,108
Source: David McNew / Getty Images
37. Union Pacific
>Founding date: 1862
>Revenues: $19.53 billion
>Number of Employees: 30,960
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36. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America
>Founding date: 1860
>Revenues: $13.56 billion
>Number of Employees: 8,871
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35. Fifth Third Bancorp
>Founding date: 1858
>Revenues: $8.40 billion
>Number of Employees: 19,872
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34. Northwestern Mutual
>Founding date: 1857
>Revenues: $33.78 billion
>Number of Employees: 6,641
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33. General Mills
>Founding date: 1856
>Revenues: $17.63 billion
>Number of Employees: 35,000
Source: M. Suhail / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
32. M&T Bank
>Founding date: 1856
>Revenues: $6.28 billion
>Number of Employees: 17,046
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31. Travelers
>Founding date: 1853
>Revenues: $31.98 billion
>Number of Employees: 30,294
Source: Sundry Photography / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
30. Wells Fargo
>Founding date: 1852
>Revenues: $80.30 billion
>Number of Employees: 268,531
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29. PNC Financial Services Group
>Founding date: 1852
>Revenues: $24.04 billion
>Number of Employees: 50,403
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28. PG&E
>Founding date: 1852
>Revenues: $18.47 billion
>Number of Employees: 24,000
Source: Michael Vi / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
27. Merck
>Founding date: 1851
>Revenues: $47.99 billion
>Number of Employees: 73,500
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26. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
>Founding date: 1851
>Revenues: $23.66 billion
>Number of Employees: 9,974
Source: kali9 / E+ via Getty Images
25. Corning
>Founding date: 1851
>Revenues: $11.30 billion
>Number of Employees: 50,110
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24. American Express
>Founding date: 1850
>Revenues: $38.19 billion
>Number of Employees: 63,700
Source: Alexandros Michailidis / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
23. Pfizer
>Founding date: 1849
>Revenues: $41.91 billion
>Number of Employees: 78,500
Source: hapabapa / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
22. KeyCorp
>Founding date: 1849
>Revenues: $7.34 billion
>Number of Employees: 16,826
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21. Unum Group
>Founding date: 1848
>Revenues: $13.16 billion
>Number of Employees: 10,500
Source: Riccardo Savi / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
20. Philip Morris International
>Founding date: 1847
>Revenues: $28.69 billion
>Number of Employees: 71,000
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19. Fidelity National Information Services
>Founding date: 1847
>Revenues: $12.55 billion
>Number of Employees: 62,000
Source: TomasSereda / iStock via Getty Images
18. New York Life Insurance
>Founding date: 1845
>Revenues: $46.71 billion
>Number of Employees: 11,506
Source: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
17. Stanley Black & Decker
>Founding date: 1843
>Revenues: $14.53 billion
>Number of Employees: 58,350
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16. Citigroup
>Founding date: 1842
>Revenues: $88.84 billion
>Number of Employees: 210,153
Source: sharrocks / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
15. Procter & Gamble
>Founding date: 1837
>Revenues: $70.95 billion
>Number of Employees: 99,000
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14. Deere
>Founding date: 1837
>Revenues: $35.54 billion
>Number of Employees: 69,634
Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
13. McKesson
>Founding date: 1833
>Revenues: $231.05 billion
>Number of Employees: 70,000
Source: Natee Meepian / iStock via Getty Images
12. State Street
>Founding date: 1832
>Revenues: $12.08 billion
>Number of Employees: 39,439
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Source: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
11. Macy’s
>Founding date: 1830
>Revenues: $18.10 billion
>Number of Employees: 75,711
Source: RiverNorthPhotography / Getty Images
10. Citizens Financial Group
>Founding date: 1828
>Revenues: $7.68 billion
>Number of Employees: 17,584
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9. CSX
>Founding date: 1827
>Revenues: $10.58 billion
>Number of Employees: 19,282
Source: Ingus Kruklitis / iStock via Getty Images
8. Consolidated Edison
>Founding date: 1823
>Revenues: $12.25 billion
>Number of Employees: 14,071
Source: JHVEPhoto / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
7. Veritiv
>Founding date: 1819
>Revenues: $6.35 billion
>Number of Employees: 6,400
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6. Hartford Financial Services Group
>Founding date: 1810
>Revenues: $20.52 billion
>Number of Employees: 18,500
Source: NoDerog / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
5. Colgate-Palmolive
>Founding date: 1806
>Revenues: $16.47 billion
>Number of Employees: 34,200
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4. JPMorgan Chase
>Founding date: 1799
>Revenues: $129.50 billion
>Number of Employees: 255,351
Source: Scott Eisen / Getty Images for Patrick Dempsey Center
3. Cigna
>Founding date: 1792
>Revenues: $160.40 billion
>Number of Employees: 72,963
Source: JL Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
2. Molson Coors Beverage
>Founding date: 1786
>Revenues: $9.65 billion
>Number of Employees: 17,000
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1. Bank of New York Mellon
>Founding date: 1784
>Revenues: $16.94 billion
>Number of Employees: 48,500
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