Microsoft first surpassed Apple in market capitalization to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company in 2024.
Microsoft moved ahead of Apple in January 2024 as investors continued to favor its cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence prospects. Microsoft’s Azure platform, enterprise software, and partnership with OpenAI helped shape expectations about future growth. Market leadership can change quickly because it depends on share prices and the number of shares outstanding.
Microsoft and Apple have repeatedly exchanged the top position over the years. That makes “first surpassed” a time-specific claim, not a permanent ranking. Companies may also be compared using different measures, such as revenue, profit, enterprise value, or market capitalization, which can produce different leaders.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 and became a major personal-computer software company through Windows and Office. It later expanded into cloud services, gaming through Xbox, professional networking through LinkedIn, and business software, giving its market value several major growth engines.