It’s never been a secret that Apple was becoming more and more valuable as a company, and today they became the most valuable stock by market capitalization ever, a record previously set by Microsoft in 1999.
During trading hours on Monday, Apple’s market capitalization reached $621 billion, beating rival Microsoft’s previous record. Last Friday, AAPL stock closed at a record price of $648, driven to new heights by rumors of a new iPhone, a smaller iPad, and an Apple television set.
This past week Apple distribute its first dividend payment since the late 1990s to shareholders. Apple’s soaring market cap has made it worth more than 50 percent more than Exxon Mobil Corp, the second-largest company by market capitalization. Apple first passed Exon in August of 2011, with a then-value of $347 billion.
