Big oil, health care, and Texas are the big winners on this year’s Fortune 500

A few things to note about this year’s list:

—Oil companies are back after falling significantly in recent years. ExxonMobil nabs the No. 3 spot, up from No. 6 last year, besting Apple (No. 4). And Chevron nudges its way back onto the top ten (No. 10, up from No. 16). Even more telling, if you compare Fortune 500 firms based on 2022 total return to investors, oil companies lead the way—with PBF Energy grabbing top honors, Occidental taking second, Hess third, and ExxonMobil fourth. (If you take the long view—total return to investors over the last decade—Tesla, No. 50 on the list, comes out on top, and Nvidia, No. 152 on the list, is second.)

—Health care is eating the world (or at least the Fortune 500). UnitedHealth lands at No. 5 again, besting CVS at No. 6, while drug distributor McKesson is No. 9 and its competitor AmerisourceBergen sits at No. 11. If you consider that Walmart, Amazon (No. 2), and Apple also are making major moves into health care, it quickly becomes clear the degree that keeping an aging population healthy has become a major driver of the U.S. economy.

—Texas rules, serving as home to the most Fortune 500 companies (55) for the second year in a row, leading California (53) and New York (50).

—Women are rising—but slowly. 52 women run Fortune 500 companies, up from 44 at this time last year, putting their share over 10% for the first time ever. There are also more Black CEOs running Fortune 500 companies than ever before—but still only eight.

You can explore the full list this morning here and read Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell’s take here. More news below.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Culture shock

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is struggling to hire new workers for its Arizona factories due to its tough working culture. The leading chipmaker that's investing $40 billion in the U.S. as part of the Biden administration's chip push says it will hire 4,500 engineers, but potential U.S. recruits are balking at its long hours and rigid standards. Fortune

TikTok tobacco

TikTok is now presenting users with videos on smoking and vaping when they search for tobacco-related terms, Fortune’s Alexandra Sternlicht reports. Previous versions of the social media app would send tobacco-interested users to a dedicated section on substance use and mental health. TikTok tells Fortune that the earlier redirection was an error: the company never intended to block tobacco-related videos. 

Wildfires

AllState confirmed over the weekend that it has stopped selling home, condominium and commercial insurance programs in California. The insurance company—the fourth-largest provider in the state—cited wildfires and other extreme weather for the decision to stop signing up new customers. State Farm, the state’s largest provider, also decided to stop selling policies in California last week for the same reason. New York Times

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

‘The Force has left Lucasfilm’: What has gone wrong for the studio behind ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’—and how Disney’s Bob Iger can salvage his $4 billion investment by Christiaan Hetzner 

Why is inflation still so bad? Extreme-low unemployment rates in these states are a major factor by Nicolas Rapp and Matt Heimer

This CEO partnered with Cara Delevingne and became the face of high-tech sex positivity. Then it all came crashing down by Lux Alptraum

The A.I. job culling has already begun and 4,000 people lost work last month to the technology, according to a new report by Rachel Shin

Gen Z needs brand-new skills to climb to the C-suite: ‘What got me here will not get them there,’ says health care CEO by Jane Thier

Amazon is unfazed by remote workers protesting its return-to-office mandate: ‘There’s more energy, collaboration, and connections happening’ by Steve Mollman

This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.