Is Apple Really The First $1 Trilion Company?

Here are five that did it earlier.

- Ryan Derousseau

APPLE’S STATUS AS A CULTURAL ICON is about to reach a new level. Trading at around $190 a share, Apple is on the verge of becoming a $1 trillion company, based on the total value of its stock.

But would this be a first, as the headlines make it out to be? If you look at just U.S. companies now, it may seem that way. In the S&P 500, Apple sits atop the list with a $900 billion market value, followed by Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet, each at around $800 billion.

But when you search globally and historically, you’ll find plenty of examples of dominant corporations that actually dwarf Apple’s market size—after you inflation-adjust their value to today’s dollars. Once you do that, several dominant companies have already made it into the four-comma club.

HISTORY’S BIGGEST COMPANIES

DUTCH EAST INDIA CO.

Industry: Trade 

Value in today’s dollars: $8.2 trillion

The Dutch East India Co. is often called the world’s first multinational. At the end of the 16th century, Dutch ships began to sail to South and East Asia to bring spices and other luxury items back to Europe. Demand for—and profits from—such goods was so strong that Dutch shippers joined forces to create the United East India Co. (or outside the Netherlands, the Dutch East India Co.).