Until 1989 it listed only non-US industrial corporations under the title "International 500", while the Fortune 500 contained and still contains exclusively US corporations. In 1990, US companies were added to compile a truly global list of top industrial corporations as ranked by sales. In 2005, more than 450 of them were headquartered in the United States (176), Europe (195), and Japan (80).
Since 1995, the list has had its current form, listing also top financial corporations and service providers by revenue.

The top ten includes six oil companies, two automobile manufacturers, one retailer, and one banking corporation. The complete list is available online.
). Only cities with five Global 500 companies or more are listed.| Rank | City | Country | Number of Global 500 companies | Global 500 revenues ($ millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | Japan | 47 | 1,858,608 |
| 2 | Paris | France | 25 | 1,419,933 |
| 3 | London | United Kingdom | 22 | 1,183,769 |
| 4 | Beijing | China | 21 | 943,768 |
| 5 | New York | United States | 20 | 1,166,469 |
| 6 | Seoul | South Korea | 13 | 576,919 |
| 7 | Toronto | Canada | 9 | 229,308 |
| 8 | Madrid | Spain | 8 | 357,927 |
| 9 | Munich | Germany | 7 | 455,821 |
| 9 | Zürich | Switzerland | 7 | 354,657 |
| 9 | Osaka | Japan | 7 | 267,296 |
| 12 | Houston | United States | 6 | 344,028 |
| 13 | Mumbai | India | 5 | 139,615 |
| 13 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 5 | 324,940 |
| 13 | Atlanta | United States | 5 | 203,379 |