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So you want to be a Fortune 500 company...

Most businesses never make the revenue threshold, which is just over $4.8 billion this year. But the few that do share five crucial traits.

It's the club every entrepreneur wants to join, but getting into the Fortune 500 isn't easy. A company has to mature well beyond its start-up years to reach the revenue threshold, $4.825 billion for this year's list. Of course, most never make it. The few companies that do make the list share five crucial traits:

NEXT: Adaptability

By Geoff Colvin @FortuneMagazine - Last updated May 06 2013 07:17 AM ET

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