1985 was the first year that I started working in the investment industry. I was working in a role that was periphery to financial planning and investment management at that time, and in 1987 I started working in a role that got me much closer to the real action.
This table above appealed to me as it traced the rise and fall of various companies, showing the trends in society over time. If you blow the image up on your screen, or download it, you can see that there are fine lines connecting the different companies.
Some of the significant things to notice:
IBM was the leading company in 1985, 1990, the fell to 10th on the list in 1995 before vanishing and then returning in 2010 for a brief spot (then vanishing again.)
In 1985 Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron and Amoco were the oil and gas companies making up 40% of the top ten companies, with Philip Morris (tobacco) joining them to make up 50% of the top 10.
Only 2 of the top 10 companies in 1985 were in the top 10 in 2015 (GE and Exxon Mobil).
No companies from 1985 were in the top 10 in 2024. In fact, only one company in the top 10 in 2024 (Microsoft) was in the top 10 in 2000 - none were older than that.
It took until 2010 for two more of the current top 10 companies to enter the top 10 (in that year Apple (2), Microsoft (3) and JPMorganChase(10)) were in the top 10.
Between 2010 and 2024, Apple increased one spot to number 1 (which it reached in 2015), Microsoft stayed constant at number 3 and JPMorganChase stayed constant at number 10.)
What trends can you see that you find interesting?
What companies can you remember being around 10, 20, 30 years ago that aren't here now - even if they weren't in the top 10 of the S&P500?
