Nvidia became the first semiconductor company to rank as the world’s most valuable company in June 2024.
On June 18, 2024, Nvidia’s share-price surge briefly lifted its market capitalization above Microsoft and Apple. The rise followed extraordinary investor demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units, or GPUs, which are widely used to train and run artificial-intelligence systems.
Nvidia was founded in 1993 and initially became known for graphics chips used in personal computers and video games. Its CUDA software platform and data-center products later made the company especially important to AI developers. That shift transformed Nvidia from a specialized chip designer into one of the central suppliers of modern AI infrastructure.
The ranking was not permanent: market capitalization changes continuously as share prices move. Nvidia’s moment at the top therefore describes a documented point in market history, not an everlasting title. Semiconductor companies design or manufacture electronic chips, and Nvidia primarily designs chips while relying on outside foundries for production.