What Is the Trillion-Dollar Club?

By Motley Fool Staff – Updated Aug 17, 2025 at 8:38 PM EST

Key Points

PetroChina was the first modern $1 trillion company but dropped in value post-2007 crisis.
Apple reached $1 trillion in 2018, later hitting $3 trillion; Nvidia joined in 2023.
Eli Lilly and Broadcom are potential future trillion-dollar companies due to AI and healthcare.

Billion-dollar companies have been part of the U.S. economy for more than a century. Trillion-dollar companies, however, are a more recent development. Although Apple (AAPL +1.02%) is often considered to be the first publicly traded company to reach $1 trillion in market capitalization, it's neither the first nor the last to reach a four-comma valuation. Read on to learn more about the trillion-dollar club's history, as well as its past, present, and potential future members.

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A pile of cash funds. — Image source: Getty Images.

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Nvidia: (NVDA +1.22%). The chipmaker, which has benefited from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, hit the $1 trillion mark in May 2023.
Microsoft: (MSFT +0.82%). The software and cloud computing giant reached a $1 trillion valuation in April 2019.
Apple: The tech king became a member of the trillion-dollar club in September 2018.
Alphabet: (GOOG +0.03%)(GOOGL +0.38%). The digital advertising and search engine leader became worth more than $1 trillion in January 2020.
Amazon: (AMZN +2.14%). The e-commerce and cloud computing kingpin hit $1 trillion in market capitalization in September 2018.
Meta Platforms: (META +0.37%). The social media phenomenon became worth more than $1 trillion in June 2021.
Saudi Aramco: The Saudi oil company became worth more than $1 trillion in December 2019. Note that foreign investors who want to buy a share are required to have at least $500 million in assets to open an account on the Tadawul exchange, where about 1.5% of its stock is traded.

Waiting in line

Tesla (TSLA +3.28%) gained admittance to the trillion-dollar club in 2021, but it didn't last long. The company's market cap had plunged to around $700 billion by the summer of 2024. Still, it's not too farfetched to think that Tesla could regain admittance to the club.

Here are four other publicly traded companies waiting in line in the summer of 2024 that could enter, as well:

Eli Lilly: (LLY -0.52%). The pharmaceutical company's stock has been buoyed by the popularity of its popular weight management and diabetes drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro. It boasted a market cap of $885 billion.
Broadcom: (AVGO +1.57%). Like Nvidia, semiconductor and software giant Broadcom has benefitted from the AI boom. Its market capitalization had reached $734 billion by the summer of 2024.
Berkshire Hathaway: (BRK.A +0.03%)(BRK.B +0.09%). Warren Buffett's Omaha-based holding company has a lengthy history of rewarding shareholders and doesn't seem poised to disappoint them. With a $944 billion market cap in the summer of 2024, hitting four commas is likely only a matter of time.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing: (TSM +2.34%). Another beneficiary of the AI boom, TSMC produces an estimated 90% of advanced chips for some of the biggest names in tech. By late summer 2024, its market cap had reached $882 billion.

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The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, GE HealthCare Technologies, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends BP, Broadcom, GE Aerospace, Ge Vernova, and General Motors and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.