The 20 Most and Least Profitable Companies, Per Employee
The Fortune 500 is an elite club of the biggest American businesses, which combined to generate profits of over $1.2 trillion in 2019.
But how much profit do these companies make on a per employee basis?
This visualization uncovers the answer by comparing the 20 companies with the most and least returns per employee, using calculations from Tipalti (based on the Fortune 500 list).
Top 20: Most Profit per Employee
Diving right in, the companies that make the most money per employee may surprise you.
Housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac take two of the top three spots, bringing in $1.9 million and $1.0 million per employee respectively in 2019.
The two U.S. government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are major players in the secondary mortgage market, buying and repackaging nearly half the mortgages in the country. The duo was allowed to retain their profits as of October 2019, instead of returning them to the U.S. Treasury.
| Company | Sector | Profit per Employee | Profits ($M) | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) |
Financials | $1,888,000 | $14,160 | 7,500 |
| KKR | Financials | $1,448,699 | $2,005 | 1,384 |
| Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) |
Financials | $1,046,721 | $7,214 | 6,892 |
| NRG Energy | Energy | $969,631 | $4,438 | 4,577 |
| EOG Resources | Energy | $943,103 | $2,735 | 2,900 |
| Biogen | Health Care | $795,811 | $5,889 | 7,400 |
| Blackstone Group | Financials | $705,680 | $2,050 | 2,905 |
| ConocoPhillips | Energy | $691,250 | $7,189 | 10,400 |
| Enterprise Products Partners | Energy | $628,904 | $4,591 | 7,300 |
| Visa | Business Services | $619,487 | $12,080 | 19,500 |
| Simon Property Group | Financials | $560,533 | $2,102 | 3,750 |
| Gilead Sciences | Health Care | $456,441 | $5,386 | 11,800 |
| Oneok | Energy | $443,789 | $1,279 | 2,882 |
| FM Global | Financials | $443,391 | $2,479 | 5,591 |
| Mastercard | Business Services | $436,452 | $8,118 | 18,600 |
| Cheniere Energy | Energy | $423,529 | $648 | 1,530 |
| Technology | $411,308 | $18,485 | 44,942 | |
| Apple | Technology | $403,328 | $55,256 | 137,000 |
| Cincinnati Financial | Financials | $384,038 | $1,997 | 5,200 |
| Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance | Financials | $373,989 | $3,701 | 9,896 |
Apple employs 137,000 people—the largest workforce by far among the 40 companies profiled—but still makes $403,328 per employee. Facebook is the only other tech giant to bring in more money per employee at $411,308.
Bottom 20: Least Profit per Employee
On the other end of the spectrum, Uber is one of the most well-known companies currently bleeding profits, losing $316K per employee. In fact, the ride-hailing service lost approximately $1.8 billion in the second quarter of 2020 alone.
| Company | Sector | Profit per Employee | Profits ($M) | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache | Energy | -$1,123,301 | -$3,553 | 3,163 |
| EnLink Midstream | Energy | -$825,830 | -$1,119 | 1,355 |
| Brighthouse Financial | Financials | -$556,391 | -$740 | 1,330 |
| PG&E | Energy | -$332,870 | -$7,656 | 23,000 |
| Frontier Communications | Telecommunications | -$322,706 | -$5,911 | 18,317 |
| Uber Technologies | Technology | -$316,208 | -$8,506 | 26,900 |
| Hess | Energy | -$229,859 | -$408 | 1,775 |
| Coty | Household Products | -$199,158 | -$3,784 | 19,000 |
| Devon Energy | Energy | -$197,222 | -$355 | 1,800 |
| Altria Group | Food, Beverages & Tobacco | -$177,123 | -$1,293 | 7,300 |
| National Oilwell Varco | Energy | -$175,927 | -$6,095 | 34,645 |
| Equitable Holdings | Financials | -$171,584 | -$1,733 | 10,100 |
| Chesapeake Energy | Energy | -$133,913 | -$308 | 2,300 |
| CenturyLink | Telecommunications | -$123,976 | -$5,269 | 42,500 |
| Mosaic | Chemicals | -$84,683 | -$1,067 | 12,600 |
| Alcoa | Materials | -$81,522 | -$1,125 | 13,800 |
| Targa Resources | Energy | -$77,985 | -$209 | 2,680 |
| Voya Financial | Financials | -$58,500 | -$351 | 6,000 |
| Wayfair | Retailing | -$57,992 | -$985 | 16,985 |
| Occidental Petroleum | Energy | -$46,319 | -$667 | 14,400 |
COVID-19 has also had an intense effect on some of the companies at the bottom end of the profit per employee spectrum. Chesapeake Energy and Frontier Communications are just two examples that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in recent months—they each lost $134K and $322K per employee in 2019 respectively.
I’m pretty confident we will see more bankruptcies than in any business person’s lifetime.
—James Hammond, CEO of BankruptcyData
Profit per Employee by Sector
When all the companies in the Fortune 500 are taken into account, sector-specific numbers reveal interesting trends.
Financials bring in the most profit per employee at $116K, while Food and Drug Stores see 17 times less profit at $6.7K per employee. In fact, eight out of the top 20 most profitable companies are found in the financial sector.
| Sector | Profits per Employee | Profits ($M) | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financials | $116,228 | $378,445 | 3,256,067 |
| Technology | $87,532 | $252,836 | 2,888,490 |
| Energy | $85,547 | $75,410 | 881,505 |
| Media | $57,947 | $21,634 | 373,333 |
| Health Care | $54,679 | $145,166 | 2,654,872 |
| Telecommunications | $50,636 | $38,251 | 755,417 |
| F&B incl. Tobacco | $41,946 | $42,924 | 1,023,317 |
| Business Services | $39,354 | $36,835 | 936,000 |
| Chemicals | $27,977 | $11,328 | 404,888 |
| Apparel | $26,154 | $7,776 | 297,300 |
| Industrials | $25,827 | $27,006 | 1,045,675 |
| Aerospace & Defence | $24,793 | $23,903 | 964,100 |
| Household Products | $24,504 | $10,415 | 425,038 |
| Transportation | $21,762 | $32,454 | 1,491,358 |
| Engineering & Construction | $19,648 | $6,773 | 344,716 |
| Materials | $13,408 | $6,024 | 449,252 |
| Retailing | $10,373 | $67,318 | 6,489,923 |
| Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | $9,653 | $16,880 | 1,748,714 |
| Wholesalers | $9,025 | $5,842 | 647,312 |
| Motor Vehicles & Parts | $8,113 | $7,108 | 876,123 |
| Food & Drug Stores | $6,746 | $8,355 | 1,238,645 |
Interestingly, as a whole, the energy sector comes in third place in terms of profit per employee at $86K—that said, nine out of the bottom 20 least profitable companies are also found in this highly volatile industry.
Though the vast majority of businesses impacted by COVID-19 have been small to mid-sized companies, the above calculations also show that Fortune 500 companies are not safe, either.
