Billion dollars just won’t cut it in the tech industry anymore as Apple becomes the first U.S. company every to achieve a market cap of over $1 trillion. But what exactly does it mean to have a trillion dollars? To put it in perspective, the company could buy one billion of its most expensive iPhone and still be worth a $1 billion.
Apple became the first American company to surpass the $1 trillion mark last Thursday after its stock price climbed to $207.05 per share
Apple’s Best Year So Far
Apple has been having its best year so far. The company’s iPhone X and iPhone 8 models were the most popular handsets of 2018 and in the third quarter, its earnings far exceeded analysts’ estimates and even its own projections.
To round up its impressive list of achievements, the tech giant became the first American company to surpass the $1 trillion mark last Thursday after its stock price climbed to $207.05 per share. However, the company may not be able to stay at $1 trillion given the volatility of the market and fluctuating stock prices.
Apple may be the first American company to achieve the milestone but international firms like PetroChina have also reached the trillion-dollar mark although the company lost the status once its stock prices came down.
But for intents and purposes, Apple is currently the only company on the market with a trillion-dollar. Another tech giant that is inching closer to the trillion-dollar mark is Amazon after it released its impressive earnings in the third quarter and projected even more growth in the final quarter of 2018.
Of course it wouldn’t matter to Apple’s success if its stocks are valued at $1 trillion or $999 billion, but the latest arbitrary milestone does put the company in a league of its own in comparison to other Silicon Valley rivals who still have plenty of catching up to do.
What $1 Trillion Can Buy
So what exactly does $1 trillion look like, and what can you buy with it? Let’s start with a simple math lesson for those who’ve never encountered a number as big as a trillion. It has 12 zeros and looks something like this in its numeric form: 1,000,000,000,000
How rich does that make Apple, you ask? According to CIA World Factbook, the company is richer than the 27th richest nation in the world, Malaysia, just slightly behind Pakistan. If Apple wanted, it could give away one billion of its most expensive handset, the iPhone X which costs $999, and still have enough in the bank to call itself a billion-dollar company.
Or, it could give away over $3,000 each to 25 million Americans with that much money. That’d be enough to buy you the best MacBook Pro or pay off most of your student loan. In fact, if Apple wanted, it could erase a massive chunk of student loan debt in the United States which currently totals at $1.52 trillion.
If Apple wanted to invest in real estate with its $1 trillion, it could easily buy the $125 million Xanadu 2.0 estate in Washington, which currently belongs to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and have enough money left over to buy 8,000 more luxurious similar to Xanadu.
Google and Amazon, with current market valuation of $852 billion and $879 billion respectively, are quickly catching up with Apple
Other Tech Giants Catching Up
Apple could also buy Netflix and Amazon with $1 trillion dollars, although it will have to act fast as Amazon’s current market valuation of $879 billion is set to shoot up to $1 trillion in the fourth quarter. Other billion-dollar companies are also catching up but none of them have joined the trillion-dollar club yet.
Google, which is currently valued at $852 billion, is expected to achieve the big milestone sometime next year if it is able to keep its momentum. Facebook is only halfway there with a market cap of $508 billion. World-famous beverage company, Coca-Cola, and Auto giant, Ford, also have a long way to go with current valuation at $198 billion and $39 billion respectively.
The iPhone maker could also buy Dallas Cowboys – the most valuable sports team in the world – for $5 billion and still have plenty of pocket change left over to buy the other 49 teams from Forbes’ list of 50 most valuable teams – all at $140 billion or less.
