16 L.A. County companies make Forbes 400 list.

16 L.A. County companies make Forbes 400 list

The National business biweekly magazine Forbes' Dec. 10 issue listed the nation's 400 largest private companies, of which 16 are based in Los Angeles County.

The biggest local private company, according to Forbes, is Santa Monica-based precious metals dealers A-Mark Financial, with revenues of $1.15 billion (Forbes erroneously listed the company as based in Los Angeles).

Ranked nationally by Forbes, A-Mark is the nation's 117-largest private company.

However, with a mere 25 employees, A-Mark must be considered a large company only in abstract financial terms> other private giants are much larger, such as the $1.1 billion-in revenues Downey-based Thrifty Oil, with 1,275 employees.

Much of A-Mark revenues are derived by trading on behalf of clients, while Thrift is an oil refiner and retailer.

Other local private giants to show up on the Forbes 400 Largest Private Companies list include Charles Pankow Builders, an Altadena-based builder with $656 million in revenues ranked 279th-largest in the nation> Treasure Chest Advertising, a Glendora-based advertising-printing company with $500 million in revenues ranked No. 381> Hughes Market, Los Angeles-based grocer, with $1 billion in revenues ranked No. 172> Pacific Holding, a Los Angeles-based holding company run by David Murdock, with $1 billion in revenues No. 175> Young's Market, Los Angeles-based grocer with $833 million in revenues ranked No. 212> American Protection Industries, a West Los Angeles-based holding company for the Franklin Mint and Teleflora Inc., with $778 million in revenues ranked No. 224> Los Angeles-based Shapell Industries, the builder owned by Nathan Shapell, with $707 million in revenues ranked No. 254> and Watt Industries, the Santa Monica-based builder run by Ray Watt, with $700 million in revenues ranked No. 260 (Forbes also erred in listing Watt Industries as a Los Angeles-based company).

Other companies listed include Topa Equities Ltd., a Los Angeles-based conglomerate owned by John E. Anderson (benefactor of the UCLA business school), with $530 million in revenues ranked No. 349> Guess?, the Los Angeles jeans-maker, with $500 million in revenues ranked No. 372> Lynwood-based Earle M. Jorgenson Holding, the private company that took over Jorgenson, the steel products distributing company, with $876 million in revenues ranked No. 204> Golden State Foods, a Pasadena-based grocer, with $1.02 billion in revenues ranked No. 157> Parsons Corp., the Pasadena-based engineering firm, with $879 million in revenues ranked No. 203> and PMC Inc., a San Fernando Valley diversified paints, varnish and plastics manufacturer with $1.0 billion in sales ranked No. 164.

In terms of employment, the largest Los Angeles Country-based private company is Parsons Corp., with 8,000 workers, according to Forbes.

Nationally, there are cities with more private companies that made Forbes top 400 list than Los Angeles. New York City has 48 companies on the list, Chicago has 25, Dallas has 21.