Apple Leads the Race to $1 Trillion

For the first time in three years Microsoft surpassed Google’s parent company Alphabet in market capitalization on Tuesday. At market close, Microsoft’s market cap stood at $753 billion compared to Alphabet’s $742 billion. While both companies’ share prices declined on Tuesday amid fears about Italy’s political and debt crisis, Alphabet’s shares took a larger hit, enabling Microsoft to become the third most valuable company in the world once again.

The first two spots are taken by Amazon and Apple, with the latter a clear frontrunner in the unofficial race to become the first trillion-dollar company. As our chart illustrates, Apple has been in the lead for a while even though its stock price has seen the strongest ups and downs over the past decade. Amazon meanwhile has been on a remarkable run for years which led to its market capitalization ballooning from $34 billion in May 2009 to $783 billion today.