Founded in 1921 and incorporated in 1959, Avnet is one of the world's largest business-to-business distributors of semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components, enterprise network and computer equipment, and embedded subsystems from leading manufacturers. Serving customers in 68 countries, Avnet markets, inventories, and adds value to these products and provides supply chain management and engineering services. In 2004, Avnet was ranked number three on Information Week 500 and number 223 on the Fortune 500. Avnet was also named to Fortune s list of Top 50 fastest-growing companies in 2002. Avnet maintains its corporate offices in Phoenix, and has the distinction of being one of the largest publicly-held companies with its headquarters in Arizona.