Dell Inc. topped Fortune magazine's annual list of most admired companies in the United States, displacing Wal-Mart Inc. , the world's largest retailer, the magazine said Tuesday.
Dell, the world's largest personal computer company, clinched the No. 1 spot for the first time, moving up from No. 5. General Electric Co. placed second, while Starbucks Corp. was third. Wal-Mart moved to the No. 4 spot. Meanwhile, top U.S. air carrier Southwest Airlines landed the number five position.
(MSNBC is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC, which is a GE company.)
The complete list is currently available on Fortune's web site. The magazine plans to release the entire list of most admired companies at newstands on Feb. 28.
Fortune polled 10,000 individuals, who ranked 582 companies on eight qualities: innovation, employee talent, financial soundness, quality of management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, long-term investment and quality of products and services.
