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 +0.43%) 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.
What is the trillion-dollar club?
The trillion-dollar club doesn't have a fixed, or even easily identifiable membership list. In general, it consists of publicly traded companies that have a market capitalization of $1 trillion or more.
But market caps aren't exactly etched in stone. PetroChina (NYSE:PTR), for example, launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 2007 and became the first modern-day member of the trillion-dollar club in 2007. The 2007-09 financial crisis and an oil price war, however, meant the company was swiftly tossed out of the club; its market value fell to less than $260 billion by the end of 2008.
There's also the question of inflation. For example, could the Dutch East India Company have been considered a member of the club? At its peak value in 1637, it was considered to be worth $7.9 trillion in today's dollars. The Mississippi Company, which held French trading rights in North America and the West Indies, was thought to be worth $6.5 trillion in today's dollars in 1720. Even Standard Oil Co. -- the forerunner of ExxonMobil (XOM +0.85%), Chevron (CVX +0.41%), BP (BP +1.48%), and Marathon Petroleum (MPC +1.34%) – was thought to have a value that topped $1 trillion in 1901.
The trillion-dollar club is still a relatively recent phenomenon in the United States. The first million-dollar enterprise, the Bank of North America, reached that milestone in 1781.
It took 120 years for a U.S. company to hit a billion-dollar valuation; U.S. Steel (NYSE:X) became the first billion-dollar U.S. company in 1901. General Motors (GM +0.42%) hit the $10 billion mark in 1955, and General Electric (GE +1.52%)(GEV +0.81%)(GEHC +0.71%) reached $100 billion in 1995.
The $1 trillion mark wasn't breached by a U.S. company until August 2018, when tech giant Apple hit four commas.
Trillion-dollar club members
Since Apple's ascension to the four-comma club, its market value has risen to a whopping $3 trillion. More companies have since joined the club, with a couple even surpassing Apple. Here are the companies that were members of the trillion-dollar club in mid-2024:
- Nvidia: (NVDA +5.82%). The chipmaker, which has benefited from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, hit the $1 trillion mark in May 2023.
- Microsoft: (MSFT +1.85%). 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 +3.89%)(GOOGL +4.11%). The digital advertising and search engine leader became worth more than $1 trillion in January 2020.
- Amazon: (AMZN +1.67%). The e-commerce and cloud computing kingpin hit $1 trillion in market capitalization in September 2018.
- Meta Platforms: (META +1.62%). 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.
