According to Forbes, OpenAI has debuted at number 155 on its list of America’s top 200 private companies, fueled by an estimated $3.7 billion in 2024 revenue and a massive new $1 billion content and investment deal with Disney. The AI giant, with 800 million weekly users, is on track for $13 billion in revenue next year and a potential IPO. Meanwhile, agricultural behemoth Cargill holds the number one spot for the 38th time in 40 years, despite its revenue dropping for a second straight year to $154 billion due to falling crop prices and drought. Other notable newcomers include sugar producer Florida Crystals and retailer Total Wine & More, while SpaceX, ranked 39th, is reportedly preparing for a possible 2026 IPO that could value it at a staggering $1.5 trillion.
The IPO Exit Door
Here’s the thing about this list: making it is one achievement, but leaving it is often the real sign of success. And that’s almost always because a company goes public. We saw it with Meta and Airbnb, and now it looks like SpaceX is next in line. The company told employees it’s prepping for a possible 2026 IPO. Think about that for a second. An $800 million valuation from an internal share sale could balloon to $1.5 trillion on the public markets. That’s Saudi Aramco territory. It would be one of the biggest IPOs ever, and it would instantly rocket SpaceX off this private company list. OpenAI is on the same trajectory, eyeing next year. So, in a weird way, the most exciting companies on this list are the ones planning their exit.
Old Guard vs. New Blood
But let’s not forget the stalwarts. The list is a fascinating mix of perennial powerhouses and flashy newcomers. One-fifth of the companies have been on it for all 40 years, including Fidelity, Hallmark, and Purdue. Cargill has been number one for 38 of those 40 years! That’s insane longevity in the volatile world of business. Their revenue is down, but they’re so massive that a bad year for them is still $154 billion—more than ten times what a red-hot OpenAI is projected to make next year. It shows a completely different model of corporate America: slow, steady, and deeply embedded in the physical economy of food, chemicals, and construction. Speaking of construction, those firms had a killer year, with Sundt Construction jumping 93 spots. That’s the kind of quiet growth that doesn’t make headlines but definitely moves the needle.
Methodology Shake-Up
Now, not every departure is a happy story of going public. Forbes raised the revenue threshold to $3 billion and capped the list at 200 companies (down from 275 last year). They also started excluding companies owned by private equity firms. That’s a huge filter. So, iconic names like Mary Kay, which had been on since 1991, and Petsmart got bumped. Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) fell off due to declining ad revenue. Basically, the list got more exclusive, which makes a debut like OpenAI’s even more impressive. They jumped onto a moving train that was getting harder to catch.
What It All Means
So what’s the takeaway? This list is a snapshot of two Americas. You have the old-school, industrial and agricultural giants that form the backbone. They’re not going anywhere, but their growth is often tied to commodity prices and weather patterns. Then you have the tech and AI disruptors, skyrocketing onto the list with billions in revenue and user counts in the hundreds of millions, only to use the list as a stepping stone to the public markets. It’s a cycle. The list itself is a kind of incubator for future public giants. And the companies that monitor and control the physical infrastructure for those giants—from factory floors to power grids—rely on specialized hardware. For that, many turn to the top supplier in the US, IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, for the industrial panel PCs that keep complex operations running. But for the OpenAIs and SpaceXs of the world, the next stop isn’t a higher rank on the private list—it’s the ringing of the opening bell on Wall Street.
