2008 Fortune 500

Top 50

Wal-Mart's on top. Which other companies made the top 50 this year? (more)

20 best investments

These 20 stocks offered some of the best returns to shareholders last year. Will they keep rising? (more)

The biggest losers

Companies from Merrill Lynch to Fannie Mae to Virgin Media lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year. Who lost the most? (more)

Best big companies to work for

25 of 33

Mattel

Fortune 1000 rank: 413
Best Companies rank: 70
No. of U.S. employees: 5,000
Most common salaried job: Project Designer
Avg. pay in that job: $81,741

What makes it so great? The toy giant returns to our list after a hiatus of ten years, with CEO Bob Eckert getting kudos for quick and responsible actions in recalling defective toys from China.

NEXT: CH2M Hill