FORBES MAGAZINE NAMES BRIGHTSTAR CORP. 177th LARGEST PRIVATE COMPANY IN AMERICA
Company Moves Up Over 50 Spots on List From Previous #233 Ranking
MIAMI – December 8, 2005 — Forbes Magazine released their annual America’s Largest Private Companies list, ranking Florida-based Brightstar Corp. as #177 of the 339 private companies that achieved $1 billion or more in revenue in 2004.
This is the second time Brightstar, a leading supply chain management and mobile solutions company for the wireless industry, has made the Forbes list with reported sales in 2004 of $1.74 billion. Previously, Brightstar ranked 233 on the list in 2003 for achieving $1.204 billion.
According to the November 28, 2005 publication, the annual ranking of private companies concentrates only on companies that have achieved at least $1 billion in revenues. Private status is defined as companies that have maintained either restricted share ownership to a limited group or have too few shareholders to require the filing of public financial statements.
Brightstar is in good company. Well known companies such as Cargill (ranked #1), Toys R Us (ranked #13), Metro Goldwyn Mayer (ranked #180) and Burger King (ranked #264) are also named to the prestigious list. For the full list, visit http://www.forbes.com/private.
Brightstar has seen consistent financial success and high growth rates since its inception in October 1997—$14 million in 1997, $73 million in 1998, $140 million in 1999, $355 million in 2000, $631 million in 2001, $849 million in 2002, $1.2 billion in 2003, $1.74 billion in 2004 with expected revenues of over $2.25 billion in 2005.
This year’s Forbes list of 339 companies represents the sale of over $1 trillion dollars’ worth of goods and services and the employment of over 4 million people, according to the Forbes article.
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About Brightstar
Brightstar Corp. is a leading distributor and provider of value added supply chain services to the wireless telecom industry, and also designs and manufactures products under licensing agreements with leading manufacturers. Headquartered in Miami, FL, Brightstar has operations in Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, the U.S. and Venezuela. The company serves over 160 network operators and 15,000 resellers, retailers and agents around the world and also represents many of the world’s leading wireless manufacturers. During the year ending 2004, Brightstar’s revenues exceeded $1.7 billion. The company expects to exceed $2.25 billion in revenue in 2005.