France's World Leading Corporations
With 39 of the 500 biggest companies of the world in 2010, France ranks 4th in the Fortune Global 500, behind the USA, Japan and China. Paris is the second most important location in the world for the headquarters of the world's 500 largest companies: there are more Fortune Global 500 company headquarters in Paris than in Beijing, New York, London or Munich, but fewer than in Tokyo.
AXA is one of the world's largest insurance companies; Air France is the world's largest airline company in incomes; L'Oreal is the world's largest cosmetic company; LVMH and PPR are the world's largest and second-largest luxury product companies respectively; GDF-Suez is the world's largest energy company; EDF is the world's largest utility company; Areva is a large nuclear-energy company; Veolia Environnement is the world's largest environmental services and water management company; VINCI, Bouygues and Eiffage are respectively world's 1st, 2nd and 4th building and public work companies; Michelin is the world's pneumatic leader; Lafarge is the world's largest cement company; JCDecaux is the world's largest outdoor advertising corporation; BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale are respectively the world's 1st, 6th and 8th biggest banks in assets in 2010;
Carrefour is the world's second largest retail group in terms of revenue; Total is the world's fourth largest private oil company; Danone is the world's fifth largest food company and the world's largest supplier of mineral water; Sanofi Aventis is the world's fifth largest pharmaceutical company; Publicis is the world's third largest advertising company; PSA is the world's 6th and Europe's 2nd largest automaker; Renault-Nissan is the world's leading electric car developer among major automakers; Accor is the leading European hotel group; Alstom is one of the world's leading conglomerates in power generation and transport; Pernod Ricard is one of the world's biggest producer of distilled beverages (owning the former Seagram distilleries).
In 2008, France was the second-largest recipient of foreign direct investment among OECD countries at $117.9 billion, above the United Kingdom ($96.9 billion), Germany ($24.9 billion), or Japan ($24.4 billion). In the same year, French companies invested $220 billion outside of France, ranking France as the second most important outward direct investor in the OECD, behind the United States ($311.8 billion), and ahead of the United Kingdom ($111.4 billion), Japan ($128 billion) and Germany ($156.5 billion).
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“The best of America drifts to Paris. The American in Paris is the best American. It is more fun for an intelligent person to live in an intelligent country. France has the only two things toward which we drift as we grow older—intelligence and good manners.”
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