Top 100 America’s Largest Private Companies 2020

Koch Industries reclaims the No. 1 spot on annual ranking of America’s largest private companies. This breaks a twelve-year streak in the top spot by Cargill, the agribusiness giant. Koch Industries’ revenues for the 2019 calendar year were an estimated $115 billion, up 4.5% from the prior year. Meanwhile, Cargill’s revenues for its most recent fiscal year (through May 2020) were $114.6 billion—just $400 million less than Koch Industries. Cargill revenues were up $1.1 billion or 1% over the prior year. In the company’s annual report, Cargill CEO David MacLennan described 2020 as challenging but reminded stakeholders that the 155-year-old company has seen crises before. He described revenues as steady. The two companies have been mainstays of Forbes’ private companies list. Both appeared on our inaugural list in 1985 and on every list since then. Back in 1985, Cargill took the top spot with $30 billion in sales while Koch Industries had sales of $12 billion and was ranked