Apple overtook ExxonMobil to become the world's most valuable company by market capitalization in 2011.
Apple passed ExxonMobil during August 2011, a striking reversal from the technology company’s position only a few years earlier. ExxonMobil was the product of the 1999 merger between Exxon and Mobil and had long benefited from the enormous scale and profitability of the oil business.
Apple’s rise was driven especially by the iPhone, which launched in 2007, and by the fast-growing App Store and iPad businesses. Investors began treating Apple as a powerful consumer-platform company rather than simply a computer manufacturer.
The comparison concerned market capitalization, not physical assets or annual sales. ExxonMobil remained one of the world’s largest companies, but changes in oil prices, the global economy, and Apple’s accelerating earnings affected their relative valuations. Apple’s lead later changed hands several times as technology and energy stocks moved through different market cycles.