August 1, 2015 / Fortune Asia / Volume 172 / Number 2 / Global 500

features

53 Fortune Global 500
It was a topsy-turvy year: The 500 biggest companies in the world ranked by revenue set a new record in sales in 2014, but total profit fell by 15%.
By Brian O’Keefe

F--1 The List

The world’s 500 largest corporations.

F--11 Arrivals and Departures

F--12 Notes

F--13 How the Companies Stack Up

F--15 Ranked Within Countries

F--21 Index

78 The Uncrowned King of Tech
Jay Y. Lee, Samsung’s debonair, globe-trotting heir apparent, is determined to transform the world’s biggest technology company into its most innovative. Can he dethrone Apple?
By Adam Lashinsky

38 Humans Are Underrated
As technology keeps wiping out jobs, here are the key skills you need to thrive in the workplace.
By Geoff Colvin

88 Tencent Grows Its Own Economy
It’s the world’s biggest online-games company. It runs China’s biggest social network. Now Tencent, the web giant with the goofy penguin logo, is turning into one of the world’s biggest venture capitalists. Will that strategy give it an edge in China’s tech wars?
By Scott Cendrowski

96 The Most Wired City in the World
Barcelona is a showcase for the ”smart” metropolis of the future-in which tech giants like Cisco, Microsoft, and IBM see big profits in helping governments save by tracking data on everything from garbage to traffic to selfies. But not everyone is happy about this new urban reality.
By Vivienne Walt

departments

Macro

8 Closer Look
Ailing U.S. fashion icons are overhauling their business models. Can they adapt to a faster, cheaper marketplace?
By Phil Wahba

10 Young Bucks
A financial literacy success story.
By Stephen Gandel

12 Crisis Economics
Europe’s real problem: France can’t sell cars.
By Shawn Tully

Tech

13 The Age of Unicorns
Payments startup Stripe is racking up big partners. But don’t count out rival PayPal just yet.
By Leena Rao

16 Dialed In
Fitbit CEO James Park shared with Fortune his heart rate and sleep data in the run-up to his company’s IPO.
By Jason Cipriani

18 The Fortune 500 Series
Rockwell Automation’s Internet-connected equipment is proving to be transformative.
By Barb Darrow

Invest

21 Global 500 Stock Screen
Three stocks from our list share some attractive traits-including a reasonable price.
By Jen Wieczner

104 BING!

ON THE COVER: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ANTHONY VERDUCCI

[IMAGES]

Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, No. 13 on the Global 500
THOMAS HANNICHLEE YOUNG HO/SIPA-AP

John Rogers’s school for financial literacy in Chicago is proof that the model can work.

An H&M store in New York City. The Swedish chain has 370 stores in the U.S. and is building dozens more this year.

ｩ Time Inc.