Businessweek announce the best performing top 5 companies in the world - but the only competitors have to be S&P 500 companies.

Nope, last year’s #1 company, Google did not make the list, it was actually #34!

Here are the 2008 winners:

1. Coach - Yeah, seriously they make handbags.

* They were awarded for being the best at adapting to the shifting economy. Basically people are poorer, so they released cheaper handbags.

2. Gilead Sciences - A biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes therapies for viral diseases, infectious diseases and cancer.

* They are being rewarded for innovating in medications for HIV patients. They’ve made a treatment that allows just ONE pill a day, rather than 20 that many patients have to take.

3. Allegheny Technologies - One of the largest and most diversified specialty metals producers in the world with revenues of $5.5 billion during 2007.

4. Verizon Communications - We all know Verizon, phone, cell phone and high speed interenet.

5. Questar - Questar Corporation is a natural gas-focused energy company.

Too bad for our friends at Apple, they were in at #6 - I guess if they had partnered with Verizon rather than AT&T, maybe they could have made the top 5?

So there you go enterprising CEOs - a list of companies to aspire to.

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