On June 4, 2024, the annual Fortune 500 list was released, showcasing America’s largest corporations based on their 2023 fiscal year revenue. The minimum revenue to qualify for the Fortune 500 list reached $7.1 billion, down 2% from the previous year. This year’s list of companies generated $18.8 trillion in revenue (up 4%). 

Each year the Fortune 500 list tells the incredible story of American business, from tough times to fantastic heights, always based on facts and research, and surrounded by Fortune’s outstanding journalism and amazing stories about the business world. We will continue to bring the Fortune 500 to our expanding audience, and in new and dynamic ways in the years ahead.

Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, Fortune’s Chief Executive Officer

Fortune 500 companies and three-letter .com domain names 

Fifty-six of the Fortune 500 companies use the power of three-letter .com domain names, including ATT.com, ADM.com, BNY.com, DXC.com, UPS.com, UHS.com, JNJ.com, RTX.com, IBM.com, ICE.com, IFF.com, KEY.com, UHS.com, LPL.com, and others.

Three-letter .com domains are highly sought after for their short length and versatility, often used as acronyms for longer business names. With a limited availability of 17,576 three-letter combinations, all .com variants have been registered and are accessible only through resale. With the total number of registered .com domains surpassing 150 million, owning a three-letter .com domain has become a mark of prestige and a strategic investment in long-term brand identity and recognition.

UPS

Rank of the Fortune list 2024: 45

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational shipping, receiving, and supply chain management company, founded in 1907 as American Messenger Company. Originally specialising in telegraphs, UPS has expanded to become a dominant player in the global logistics industry, with 2023 revenues reaching $91.0 billion. 

UPS is widely recognised for its ground shipping services, but it has also expanded into air shipping with UPS Airlines. Launched in 1988 and a wholly-owned subsidiary of UPS, UPS Airlines is one of the largest cargo airlines worldwide by freight volume. 

Additionally, the company has extended its reach into retail through the UPS Store network, which supports UPS shipments and provides essential tools for small businesses. UPS has also developed services like UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost. These programs collaborate with the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.

UPS is a company with a proud past and an even brighter future. Our values define us. Our culture differentiates us. Our strategy drives us. At UPS we are customer first, people led and innovation driven.

Carol B. Tomé, CEO of UPS

In its domain strategy, UPS demonstrates its global brand’s seriousness, owning over 37,800 domain names. This portfolio includes their primary three-letter domain, UPS.com, as well as extensions like UPS.fr, UPS.eu, UPS.us, and UPS.hk to cater to specific operational markets. This approach reinforces UPS’ strong online presence and enhances user experience by providing region-specific content, fostering customer engagement and loyalty in diverse markets. 

Two-letter .com domain name amongst Fortune 500 brands

Two-letter .com domain names are among the most prized and coveted resources in digital branding and marketing. Their value stems from their exceptional rarity and uniqueness—only 676 such domains exist.

Eleven Fortune 500 companies boast ownership of these elite domains, including American Airlines (AA.com), General Motors (GM.com), General Electric (GE.com) and Procter & Gamble (PG.com). Global giants like Apple also utilise two-letter domains for subsidiary services, exemplified by Apple’s use of ME.com for its iCloud platform.

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G)

Rank of the Fortune list 2024: 50

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation with its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into a powerhouse in the consumer goods sector, specialising in a broad array of personal health, personal care, and hygiene products. Its product range is categorised into several segments, including beauty, grooming, health care, fabric and home care, as well as baby, feminine, and family care.

P&G’s brand portfolio is extensive and well-recognised around the world, featuring names like Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Rejoice, Old Spice, Braun, Gillette, Venus, Crest, Oral-B, Ariel, Downy, Gain, Tide, Cascade, Dawn, Fairy, Febreze, Mr. Clean, Swiffer, Luvs, Pampers, Bounty, Charmin, Puffs, and Always.

P&G was founded over 180 years ago as a simple soap and candle company. Today, we’re the world’s largest consumer goods company and home to iconic, trusted brands that make life a little bit easier in small but meaningful ways.

P&G

Given P&G’s expansive range of brands, it’s no surprise that the company manages a vast portfolio of over 39,700 domain names. The company owns premium Exact Brand Match domains like Always.com, Tide.com, Olay.com, Gillette.com, HerbalEssences.com, Pantene.com, OldSpice.com, Braun.com, Crest.com, Vicks.com, Swiffer.com, Pampers.com, Luvs.com, OralB.com and many others. 

P&G strategically employs shorter domain names to amplify its online presence and facilitate ease of access. The company uses the two-letter domain PG.com and owns three-letter domains such as Bis.com and Dry.com. 

This strong domain management strategy significantly bolsters P&G’s online presence, making its brands more accessible to global consumers and building a strong sense of reliability and trust. 

Procter & Gamble (P&G) adopts a naming strategy that involves using personal names as brand names, a topic we will consider in the following section.

Personal Names as Brand Names

Using personal names as brand names has proven to be a highly effective strategy for many successful companies over the years. This method helps forge a distinctive and memorable brand identity that resonates strongly with consumers. Personal names lend brands a touch of familiarity and trustworthiness, making it easier for consumers to connect with and remember the company. Additionally, this approach imbues the brand with a distinct personality and identity, essential for building brand recognition and cultivating customer loyalty.

Numerous Fortune 500 companies have adopted this approach, integrating personal names into their brand identities. Notable examples include Colgate, Ford, Hewlett Packard (HP), Tesla, McDonald’s, Nike, Dell, Goodyear, Disney, Heinz, Hilton, Johnson & Johnson, C.H. Robinson, Estée Lauder, Procter & Gamble, Williams, Pfizer, and Edison, among others.

Estée Lauder

Rank of the Fortune list 2024: 259

Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ESTĒE LAUDER) is a renowned American multinational company specialising in high-end skincare, makeup, perfume, and hair care products. Founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder and her husband Joseph in New York City, the company began with just four products. Estée Lauder built her brand on the premise that every woman can be beautiful, a belief that propelled the brand to global success through a commitment to quality and innovation.

I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.

Estée Lauder

The Estée Lauder Companies’ portfolio includes a wide variety of globally recognised brands tailored to diverse demographics and beauty needs. Key brands under its umbrella include the flagship Estée Lauder brand, which is a major player in luxury skincare and makeup markets. Clinique is another major brand, developed by dermatologists and focused on creating skincare and cosmetics that promote skin health. MAC Cosmetics is celebrated for its vibrant makeup that caters to all ages, races, and genders.

In the perfume sector, Estée Lauder owns prestigious brands like Jo Malone London, renowned for its bespoke fragrances and luxury products, and Tom Ford Beauty, which includes high-end makeup and fragrances. The hair care segment is represented by Aveda, known for its natural products and sustainable practices. Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, founded by the renowned makeup artist Bobbi Brown, was acquired by Estée Lauder in 1995.

Estée Lauder purchased Too Faced for US$1.45 billion in 2016, a brand loved for its innovative and playful makeup products that appeal to a younger demographic. That same year, the company acquired Becca Cosmetics. In 2019, Estée Lauder expanded its skincare segment by acquiring the remaining shares of Have & Be Co. Ltd., the parent company of Dr. Jart+.

Estée Lauder Companies Inc. manages various domain names to support its wide range of brands. The company operates its primary site, EsteeLauder.com, and owns other domains tailored to its individual brands, including ELcompanies.com, Clinique.com, Prescriptives.com, Origins.com, BobbiBrown.com, and others. 

Estée Lauder and its brands are included in our report Top Beauty Brands and Their Domain Name Choices. This report reveals that over 99% of the brands listed prefer .com domains, underscoring the prevalence and trust associated with this domain extension in the beauty industry. 

CVCV Domain Names

CVCV domain names (consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel) are becoming increasingly popular among businesses aiming to establish a strong brand identity. These domains consist of short, catchy, and easy-to-pronounce words that carry a positive and rhythmic sound. This makes them particularly accessible and attractive to customers from diverse languages and cultures. Several Fortune List companies, including Meta, Visa, Nike, Dana, and Citi, exemplify this naming strategy. 

Meta

Rank of the Fortune list 2024: 30

Meta Platforms, Inc., widely recognised as Meta and formerly known as Facebook, Inc., is an influential American multinational technology conglomerate. Founded on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg alongside his college roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes at Harvard University, the company initially launched as a social networking site called “TheFacebook.” Designed to connect college students, it rapidly expanded beyond educational institutions to become accessible to anyone with an email address, eventually evolving into a global social network.

In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebrand of Facebook’s parent company to Meta Platforms, Inc. 

Over the years, Meta has strategically expanded its technological and product footprint through significant acquisitions. Instagram, acquired in 2012 for approximately $1 billion, has grown into one of the world’s leading photo and video-sharing platforms. In 2014, Meta purchased WhatsApp for around $19 billion, securing its position in global messaging. That same year, it acquired Oculus VR for about $2 billion, propelling the company into the forefront of virtual reality technology.

To solidify its new brand identity, Meta Platforms acquired the naming rights for “Meta” for $60 million from Meta Financial Group. Before the rebrand, Zuckerberg had already acquired the domain Meta.com. This domain was initially obtained in 2017 as part of a broader acquisition by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla, for their philanthropic efforts.

People don’t care about what you say, they care about what you build. 

Mark Zuckerberg

Reflecting a strong digital strategy, data from Whoxy reveals that Meta Platforms, Inc. manages an extensive domain portfolio of over 110,100 domains, while Instagram LLC holds more than 12,000 domains. This collection spans various extensions and has been strategically curated to encompass different products and services. It also safeguards against common misspellings to redirect users correctly even when they mistype URLs. Examples include Acebook.com, Faacebook.com, Facebbook.com, Facevbook.com, Feacebook.com, Fasebokk.com, Fackebook.com, Facewook.com, Instagrarn.com, Instagramz.com, Instagor.com, and Instagta.com, among others.

Domains such as Instagram.com, Whatsapp.com, Messanger.com, Novi.com, Parse.com, Oculus.com, Workplace.com, Meta.com, Metacareers.com, Viracado.com, Facesounds.com, Nextstop.com, Mculus.com, i.org, Internet.org, and Onavo.com represent just a fraction of the company’s domains. This approach ensures that Meta maintains a dominant online presence, reinforcing its visibility and accessibility across its vast array of services and platforms.

Dictionary Words as Brand Names

Many Fortune companies have selected dictionary words for their brand names, showcasing their flexibility and broad appeal. Examples like Apple, Key, Paramount, Synchrony, Discover, Fox, Principal, Travelers, Progressive, Arrow and Seaboard demonstrate how businesses can capitalise on the potential of single-word .com domain names.

A major benefit of these single-word .com domains is their versatility, allowing companies to diversify their services without being constrained by their names. For example, a company like Paramount, originally synonymous with filmmaking and entertainment, is not limited by its name and has the potential to expand into other related fields, such as digital streaming services, theme parks, and consumer merchandise. This flexibility ensures that such domains retain their value over time and allow the brand to evolve and tap into new revenue streams while still leveraging its strong, recognisable name.

The global recognition of these dictionary word .com domains enhances their attractiveness, making them valuable assets in the corporate world. 

Apple

Rank of the Fortune list 2024: 3

Apple Inc. is one of the world’s most iconic and revolutionary technology companies, known for its range of electronics, software, and online services. Founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple began as a small project in Jobs’ garage. The trio initially aimed to develop and sell personal computers, and they kicked off their venture with the Apple I, a computer single-handedly designed and built by Wozniak.

Following the Apple I, the company launched the Apple II, which became hugely successful and is often credited with sparking the computer revolution. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Apple introduced a series of groundbreaking products, including the  Lisa and Macintosh, one of the first personal computers to feature a graphical user interface and a mouse. 

Despite facing significant competition and internal challenges, Apple continued to innovate. In 1997, Steve Jobs returned as the CEO and revitalised the company with a new series of products, starting with the iMac, which was notable for its unique design and powerful performance. The early 2000s saw the introduction of the iPod, iTunes, and eventually the iTunes Store, revolutionising the music industry by changing how music was consumed and distributed.

The year 2007 marked a pivotal point for Apple with the launch of the iPhone, a device that combined a phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator. Following the iPhone, Apple introduced the iPad in 2010, which had a similar impact on the tablet market, defining and dominating the category since its release.

Under the leadership of Tim Cook, who took over after Steve Jobs in 2011, Apple continued its trend of innovation with the introduction of the Apple Watch, AirPods, and services like Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud.

Apple has also expanded through strategic acquisitions to enhance its product offerings and enter new markets. One notable acquisition was Beats by Dr. Dre in 2014, a purchase valued at $3 billion. 

The name “Apple” was chosen by Steve Jobs during a period when he was on a fruitarian diet. Inspired by a visit to an apple farm, he found the name “fun, spirited, and not intimidating.” Initially, the company was called Apple Computers, Inc., reflecting its primary focus on personal computers. As Apple expanded its range of products beyond computers to include smartphones, tablets, music players, and more, it aptly dropped “Computers” from its name to become Apple Inc.

In terms of online presence, companies have a lot to learn from Apple. It owns some of the most valuable domains in the tech industry, such as Apple.com, Mac.com, Me.com, Next.com, Texture.com, Carbon.com, Airport.com, Newton.com, and Mog.com. Apple manages a portfolio of over 226,600 domains, and its Beats by Dr. Dre subsidiary controls over 31,700 domains. This includes a wide array of extensions, common misspellings, and service-specific sites, like Me.com, which redirects to iCloud, further illustrating Apple’s meticulous approach to brand protection and user experience in its digital strategy. 

Brands with Short, Brandable, and Made-up Names

Short, brandable, and inventive names are increasingly favoured by businesses seeking to establish a distinctive identity. These names often combine elements from different words or are completely fabricated. For example, Expedia, a name crafted from “exploration” and “speed,” demonstrates how companies can creatively fuse concepts to mirror their mission or services. A similar approach is seen with Microsoft, which merges “microcomputer” and “software.” 

These made-up names are memorable, easy to pronounce, and provide extensive branding possibilities, free from the constraints of prior associations. They give businesses a clean canvas to construct their brand narrative and values.

Netflix

Rank of the Fortune list 2024: 131

Netflix, Inc. is a media company founded in 1997 by American entrepreneurs Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. Netflix initially started as a DVD rental service by mail, offering a novel alternative to traditional video rental stores. The service allowed customers to rent DVDs online and have them delivered to their homes, eliminating late fees and due dates, which were common frustrations with physical rental stores.

In 2007, Netflix introduced streaming media, marking a significant transformation from a DVD rental service to a global streaming leader. This transition coincided with advancements in internet technology, enabling a seamless shift from physical rentals to online streaming. 

As streaming emerged as its main source of revenue, Netflix pivoted towards the production of original content starting in 2013. By 2023, the platform had amassed a library of over 3,700 original titles.

Interestingly, the original name for the company was not Netflix. Initially, they settled on “Kibble” but soon realised it didn’t quite capture the essence of their vision. 

We’d decided that the best name for our company would combine two words: one related to movies, one related to the internet. The best name would combine both terms seamlessly, with a minimum of syllables and letters.

Marc Randolph

After further deliberation, they arrived at a name that Marc Randolph now appreciates for its broad applicability.

The name Netflix gave us the gift of flexibility, a must-have trait for every start-up.

Marc Randolph

Today, Netflix is one of the leading streaming services worldwide, with millions of subscribers in over 190 countries. As part of its brand protection strategy, Netflix, Inc. owns over 35,900 domains, including various misspellings and domain extensions, ensuring broad accessibility and safeguarding its brand.

Marc Randolph’s forward-thinking approach to domain investment is highlighted in our report on entrepreneurs who invest in premium domains.

Highlights 

Fortune 500 Brands with .com Domain Name

Over 99% of Fortune 500 companies of 2024 operate on a .com domain name. Only 3 companies out of 500 have chosen to operate on an alternative to the .com extension. The .com domain has dominated the internet for decades, and customers instinctively trust it, giving companies that use it a competitive advantage. 

2 companies on the list use the .xyz extension. 

.xyz was proposed as part of ICANN’s New generic top-level domain (gTLD) Program, and it went live on June 2, 2014. The .xyz domain extension made its big breakthrough in 2015 when Alphabet Inc. (one of the companies on the list) began using it.

Fortune 500 Brands with Exact Brand Match (EBM) Domain Names 

457 companies have recognised the importance of securing Exact Brand Match (EBM) domains to bolster their online presence. EBM .com domain is essential for ensuring a business is easily found online, as it matches what customers typically search for when connecting with a brand. Here, the owners of premium domain names underscore the advantages and significance of owning and investing in such domains.

Uses of a Dash in Domain Names of Fortune 500 companies

5 Fortune 500 companies incorporate dashes in their domain names. Adding hyphens is generally not recommended as it complicates the domain for users, who often miss the dash when typing in a web address.

While we make every effort to ensure the data on our site is accurate, complete, and up-to-date, we cannot guarantee its reliability. Our data is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or other advice. We strongly recommend that you independently verify any information before relying on it.

A premium domain name is a powerful tool for businesses looking to establish a strong and professional online presence. If you’re ready to upgrade your brand and boost your online presence, contact us for more information on our premium domain name options and how they can help your business succeed.

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