Debt, Debt and More Debt
CNN Money and Fortune Magazine tally the top corporations in the United States yearly. In the midst of this credit crisis, I thought it might be interesting to look at the debt burden of the top ten American corporations. I used the latest quarterly balance sheets as posted on Yahoo Finance.
The top 10 American corporations currently carry over $2.5 trillion dollars in debt on their books. Just over one trillion dollars is classed as short term, expected to be repaid in the next year. The remaining long term debt, $1.52 trillion, will be repaid over a period longer than a year.
That’s just ten companies, the ten largest, but just ten. Imagine, if you will, the total debt load for the top 100, the top 500. Business thrives on debt. Use other people’s money to grow is a truism.
| CORP | S/T | L/T | TOTAL |
| Walmart Jul ‘08 | $6,851,000,000 | $37,712,000,000 | $44,563,000,000 |
| Exxon Mobil Jun ‘08 | $0 | $7,327,000,000 | $7,327,000,000 |
| Chevron Jun ‘08 | $894,000,000 | $5,770,000,000 | $6,664,000,000 |
| General Motors Jun ‘08 | $8,008,000,000 | $35,203,000,000 | $43,211,000,000 |
| ConocoPhillips Jun ‘08 | $385,000,000 | $21,539,000,000 | $21,924,000,000 |
| General Electric Jun ‘08 | $204,837,000,000 | $351,264,000,000 | $556,101,000,000 |
| Ford Motor Jun ‘08 | $0 | $166,025,000,000 | $166,025,000,000 |
| Citigroup Jun ‘08 | $360,552,000,000 | $607,396,000,000 | $967,948,000,000 |
| Bank of America Corp Jun ‘08 | $415,876,000,000 | $227,700,000,000 | $643,576,000,000 |
| AT&T Jun ‘08 | $16,472,000,000 | $63,675,000,000 | $80,147,000,000 |
| $1,013,875,000,000 | $1,523,611,000,000 | $2,537,486,000,000 |
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[...] of the debt carried by the ten top corporations in the United States, finding they have combined debt over 2.5 itrillion/i dollars. Thats not counting things not reflected in that balance sheet position, like GMs prospectively [...]