Apple ranked as the world's largest company by market capitalization at the end of 2020.
Apple finished 2020 with a market value of roughly $2.25 trillion, making it the largest publicly traded company by equity value at that point. Its shares had risen strongly during the year, helped by investor enthusiasm for technology companies and Apple's business resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company also completed a four-for-one stock split in August 2020. A stock split changes the number of shares and the price per share but does not, by itself, change total market capitalization.
Apple's 2020 position followed its achievement of becoming the first company to reach $2 trillion in market value. Rankings can change quickly because they depend on daily share prices, exchange rates, share counts, and whether private companies are included.