Change the World

Most business “best of” lists, including ours, focus on financial superlatives—the biggest and most profitable corporations, the fastest-growing companies, the top-performing stocks. But financial gain isn’t the only purpose of a business. The Fortune Change the World list is rooted in the belief that companies can mobilize the creative tools of capitalism to help solve social problems—using the profit motive to achieve goals that are just as important as turning a profit, and sometimes more so. The 2023 list, our ninth, showcases 59 companies selected by our reporters and editors from a short list of nearly 250. We’re publishing it after a summer of record heat and terrifying wildfires from Maui to Macedonia; in part for that reason, we’ve put the quest to curb greenhouse-gas emissions in the spotlight. That’s reflected in our No. 1 selection—four companies that are speeding up the EV revolution in the U.S.—but also by businesses that are teaming up to build energy-efficient “smart homes” and offering ingenious ways to keep food, plastic, and clothing out of landfills. Other businesses, meanwhile, are tackling public-health challenges and finding ways to grapple with the world’s refugee crises. And some of the world’s biggest companies, including Walmart, the world’s largest by revenue (No. 3), are pouring resources into educating and upskilling people in their workforces and their wider communities—and perhaps training the next generation of problem-solving business leaders.