In other words, only 12.2% of the Fortune 500 companies in 1955 were still on the list 60 years later in 2015, and nearly 88% of the companies from 1955 have either gone bankrupt, merged with (or were acquired by) another firm, or they still exist but have fallen from the top Fortune 500 companies (ranked by total revenues). Most of the companies on the list in 1955 are unrecognizable, forgotten companies today (e.g. Armstrong Rubber, Cone Mills, Hines Lumber, Pacific Vegetable Oil, and Riegel Textile).
Patterns of sustainable specialization and trade are in constant flux.
And they probably got there due to mergers and bankruptcies are commonly reorganizations under new management. Change is constant as is tossing out meaningless figures.
88% went bankrupt, were part of a merger/acquisition, or fell out of the top 500 in revenue, huh?
They should have listed “fallen from the top” in the middle; we would have had an excellent new example of the “Murder, Arson, and Jaywalking” trope.