Remember that time in the 1990s when Apple was almost bankrupt and in disrepair? Take note, Yahoo, Apple’s market capitalisation reached the US$600bn mark on Tuesday, the second company in the world to reach the milestone.
Apple reached a high of $644/share, reaching a market cap that continues to put space between it and the second largest company in the world, Exxon Mobile. Recently, Apple’s stock made news when it met up with Google’s at around $632/share.
After its famed co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in October, the company’s share price dipped. Shareholders feared, and continue to fear, that the company had lost its only visionary. Critics said the company was losing some of its marketing prowess. The concern is understandable. After all, it was the return of Jobs as (interim) CEO in 1997 that brought Apple back from the brink.
Soon after, reports about poor working conditions in Apple’s Foxconn factories surfaced, which sparked protests against Apple and carved a hole in its traditionally secretive operations. Despite the smudge on its reputation, however, Apple shares retained an upward trajectory — even breaking $600/share the day before its latest iPad went on sale in stores.
Apple is the second company to reach a $600bn market cap, following Microsoft’s $604bn market cap milestone in 1999. — Meghan Kelly, VentureBeat