# In an op-ed, Prof. Richard Sylla and co-author develop a "Fortune 500" list of companies in 1812

1 Faculty News April 10, 2012 ![Bloomberg logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/bloomberg192x144.jpg?itok=yV529lwz)>

Excerpt from [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-10/-fortune-500-of-1812-shows-u-s-banks-early-influence.html) -- "In 1812, all of the top five companies, and nine of the top 10, were banks. ... The finance sector made up 44 percent of the 500 largest corporations and 72 percent of all the authorized capital that year."

[Read more](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-10/-fortune-500-of-1812-shows-u-s-banks-early-influence.html)

Additional coverage appeared on [NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/04/11/150437606/the-10-biggest-corporations-in-the-u-s-in-1812) and the [Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/banks-too-big-to-fail_n_1418119.html).