Microsoft replaced Apple as the world’s most valuable public company on October 29, 2021.
Microsoft’s market capitalization briefly moved above Apple’s after Microsoft reported strong quarterly results and its shares rose. Investors were particularly focused on the company’s cloud-computing business, Azure, as well as recurring revenue from software subscriptions. Apple’s shares declined around the same time after the company reported that supply constraints had affected sales.
The ranking was not permanent. Market capitalization is a live measure based on the current share price and the number of shares outstanding, so leadership can change whenever investors revalue either company. Microsoft and Apple have repeatedly exchanged the top position during periods of changing technology-sector sentiment.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. It became famous for personal-computer software, especially MS-DOS and Windows, and later expanded into enterprise software, cloud computing, gaming, search, and hardware. Its cloud platform, Azure, became a major part of the company’s modern growth story.