A smaller DuPont and spin-off company Corteva were the only Delaware-based corporations to make the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
The ranking is based on annual revenues.
DuPont has shrunk over the years as it sold off companies and underwent a merger and subsequent spin-off with Dow. It now ranks 144th. In 1990, DuPont was ninth with holdings that included oil giant Conoco, now ConocoPhillips.
Conoco was later spun off, ridding DuPont of the Bronfman family’s large stake in the Delaware-based company.
Years later, a merger with chemical giant Dow and quick separation resulted in Delaware-based Corteva, the combined agriscience operation of DuPont and Dow. Corteva ranks 214 and recently marked its second anniversary.
While the business magazine/website listing is still known as the Fortune 500, the online list includes the 1,000 largest companies.
Barely missing the list was an earlier DuPont spinoff Chemours, which came in at 527.
Wilmington-based Chemours was followed by student loan servicer Navient at 644.
Wilmington Pharmaceutical company Incyte finished at 807, Wilmington area with chemical company Ashland Global Holdings at 869 and SLM, also known as Sallie Mae at 879.
Ashland moved its headquarters from Kentucky to Delaware after spinning off its motor oil subsidiary Valvoline.
In 2008, it acquired Delaware-based Hercules Incorporated and retained its research center west of Wilmington. That area is now the headquarters of the company.
