Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company worth $1 trillion in August 2018.
The milestone was reached on August 2, 2018, when Apple’s share price rose enough to push its market capitalization above $1 trillion during trading. Market capitalization is calculated by multiplying a company’s share price by its outstanding shares, so the figure changes continuously.
Apple’s rise followed decades of expansion from personal computers into music players, smartphones, tablets, wearables, and services. The iPhone, introduced in 2007, became the company’s central growth engine and helped transform Apple into one of the world’s most valuable businesses.
The $1 trillion figure referred to equity value, not cash held by Apple or annual revenue. Saudi Aramco later surpassed that level, and several technology companies subsequently reached $2 trillion and $3 trillion valuations. Apple itself briefly became the first company to exceed $3 trillion in market capitalization in 2022.