one year on
Nvidia surpasses Microsoft to become world's most valuable public company
The chipmaker's market cap reaches $3.34 trillion, driven by explosive demand for its AI processors.
Nvidia has overtaken Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, with a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion. Shares of the chipmaker rose 3.6% on Tuesday, pushing its valuation past Microsoft’s $3.32 trillion and Apple’s $3.29 trillion. The milestone caps a stunning ascent for a company long associated with gaming graphics cards.
Nvidia now commands roughly 80% of the market for AI chips used in data centers, a business that has ballooned as OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and others have raced to snap up the processors needed to build AI models and run increasingly large workloads. Revenue in the company’s data center business surged 427% year-over-year to $22.6 billion last quarter, accounting for 86% of total sales. Major customers including OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta have been racing to acquire Nvidia’s GPUs to build and deploy AI models.
The stock has multiplied more than ninefold since the end of 2022, and is up over 170% year to date. A 10-for-1 stock split effective June 7 has also positioned Nvidia for potential inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. CEO Jensen Huang’s personal wealth has climbed to roughly $117 billion.
The record
Huang's net worth rose to about $117 billion, making him the 11th wealthiest person globally, according to Forbes.
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
Nvidia's reign as the most valuable company proved temporary; it traded the top spot with Microsoft and Apple several times over the following year. The company's market cap later peaked above $3.6 trillion before settling back, as concerns about AI spending ROI and export controls weighed on the stock.