Berkshire Hathaway

2016 Revenue: $223.6 billion
One-year Revenue Change: 6.1%

Berkshire Hathaway(brk-a, +3.25%) rose two slots on this year’s Fortune 500 list, taking second place for the very first time. And 2016 was full of firsts for the holding company. The conglomerate helmed by CEO Warren Buffett bought a 1.1% stake in Apple, despite having avoided the so-called FANG tech giants in the past. Berkshire also piled into four airline stocks near the year’s end, even though for decades Buffett had called airlines a bad investment.