Apple Becomes World’s 1st Private-Sector Company Worth $1 Trillion

Apple, the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, became first to reach the milestone $1 trillion market value.

Don Emmert / AFP/Getty Images

Apple became the first private-sector company in history to be worth $1 trillion, after its share price reached an all-time high above $207 on Thursday.

The share price jumped by more than 8 percent this week after Apple reported impressive quarterly earnings on Tuesday, driven largely by strong sales for high-priced iPhones. In a call with investors, CEO Tim Cook also touted growth in other areas such as smart home products, wearable and services like the App Store and Apple Pay.

The $1 trillion milestone is largely symbolic, though impressive. Apple’s market capitalization — a common financial measure of worth that multiplies the number of shares by the share price — makes the company worth more than the economies of, for example, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Taiwan.