ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Fortune 500

Okay, so imagine you have 500 really big and successful companies who are friends with each other. They have lots of money and do well in business. These 500 friends are called the Fortune 500.

Each year, people check on these friends to see how they’re doing and which ones made the most money. The friends that made the most money get a special award and are called the “top earners”.

But it’s not just about money, these friends also have to be good at other things like growing their business, treating their employees well, and making products that people really want to buy.

So the Fortune 500 lets us see which companies are doing the best and it helps us learn from them so we can do well in business too.