Skip to main content
Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Atlanta loses two Fortune 500 headquarters, but remains a magnet

A haze hovers over the downtown skyline from a wildfire burning in the northwest part of the state, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in Atlanta. Fires, many of them suspected arsons, have prompted evacuations in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee recently. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A haze hovers over the downtown skyline from a wildfire burning in the northwest part of the state, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in Atlanta. Fires, many of them suspected arsons, have prompted evacuations in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee recently. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A haze hovers over the downtown skyline from a wildfire burning in the northwest part of the state, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in Atlanta. Fires, many of them suspected arsons, have prompted evacuations in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee recently. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

By Matt Kempner and J. Scott Trubey / Cox Newspapers via New York Times News Service 8 min read

ATLANTA – In the waning days of the Great Recession, Atlanta celebrated news that sparked hope for better times. Not one, but two Fortune 500 companies announced they would move their headquarters to the metro area, bringing a jolt of good-paying jobs and confirmation of Georgia’s economic promise.

Ten years later, 2019 has opened with a brutal reversal: Metro Atlanta is losing not one, but two Fortune 500 headquarters.

Atlanta’s SunTrust Banks will merge with Winston-Salem’s BB&T to create the nation’s sixth-largest bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Just three weeks earlier, First Data, a Sandy Springs-based payments processing behemoth, said it would be acquired by Wisconsin-based Fiserv, with the surviving company based near Milwaukee.

What might be missed in the latest angst: The sky isn’t falling. Atlanta’s economy appears strong, as does its hold on a large pool of Fortune 500 headquarters, which has remained remarkably stable over the last 20 years.

Last year only New York and Houston were home to more of the nation’s 500 largest companies by revenue. Had Atlanta been without SunTrust and First Data, it still would have been in third place.