How Apple’s $1 trillion market cap compares to the largest companies

Apple CEO Tim
Cook
AP

Apple’s market cap briefly topped $1 trillion on Thursday,
the first time a US company has ever achieved that feat. 

It’s been a
long slog to the top since the iPhone maker went public at
$22 a share on December 12, 1980.

The chart below, which came to our attention via Pension
Partners’ Charlie
Bilello, shows that the company had to outmaneuver corporate
giants like General
Electric and Microsoft,
which once held the title for most valuable company in the
world. 

The pace of growth in Apple’s market cap really picked up steam
in the late-2000s, which coincided with the launch of the
first-generation iPhone. 

Apple’s rise to a $1 trillion market cap is also symbolic of the
evolution of what kinds of companies are most valued by
investors, and society at large. Five of the 10 largest US
companies by market cap on Thursday were tech companies,
including Amazon,
Alphabet,
and Facebook.
In 2011, Apple was the only tech company in the top five.

Investors gave Apple the lift over $1 trillion after its
second-quarter earnings on Tuesday beat Wall Street’s
expectations, sending the stock up to the magic price of
$207.05. 

Andy
Kiersz/Business Insider; data via Bloomberg

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