Top 10 richest companies
Computer processing chip giant Nvidia has become the most valuable company in the world, fuelled by an enthusiasm for booming AI technologies.
At one time mostly known for manufacturing chips for gaming PCs, Nvidia has now overtaken Apple and Microsoft.
Topics:
Co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang's company saw its share prices climb 3.5 per cent, to US$135.58 ($203.63).
This gave the company a value of US$3.34 trillion ($5.02 trillion).
It caps off a huge recent surge for Nvidia as investors back the continuing emergence of AI.
Read on to see the most valuable companies in the world. All figures are in US dollars.
10. Eli Lilly and Company ($840 billion)
Eli Lilly and Company is the 10th most valuable company in the world.
It has a market value of $US840 billion and operate in 18 countries including Australia.
It was the first company in the world to produce insulin, a life-saving invention for people suffering from all types of diabetes.
It also pioneered the first polio vaccine.
It was founded in Indianapolis in 1876 by the pharmacologist, officer and entrepreneur Eli Lilly.
9. Berkshire Hathaway ($876 billion)
Berkshire Hathaway is a giant multinational holding company, with conglomerate interests in a wide range of businesses.
The chairman is the major US investor and multi-billionaire Warren Buffett.
It invests in everything from rail freight, insurance and manufacturing, to Kraft Heinz - makers of the popular ketchup.
The multinational empire has a market capitalisation of $US876 billion.
8. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ($897 billion)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (TSMC) is the world's third-largest semiconductor manufacturer, which means it makes the processing chips used in electronics.
TSMC makes its money by selling chips to clients all over the world.
7. Meta ($1.28 trillion)
Meta Platforms, with Facebook as its flagship, is the 7th most valuable company in the world.
The storied origins of Mark Zuckerberg's creation have seen it grow to a company worth more than $US1.28 trillion.
6. Saudi Aramco ($1.8 trillion)
As of June 2024, Saudi Aramco had a market cap of $US1.8 trillion.
The business is the national petrol and gas company of Saudi Arabia.
Since 2020 it has been the largest oil-producing company in the world.
It has the rights to the world's second-largest proven crude oil reserves.
5. Amazon ($1.9 trillion)
Coming in at number five is Amazon - the US-based e-commerce platform.
Aside from selling almost everything under the sun, Amazon provides web support for a significant section of the online world.
Jeff Bezos founded the online giant in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman in July 2021.
Amazon was valued at $US1.9 trillion in early June 2024 by the value of its traded shares.
4. Alphabet (Google) ($2.17 trillion)
Google has become a byword for using the internet for anything at all.
So it's no surprise the company behind the search-engine titan, Alphabet, is the fourth most valuable company in the world.
Google's total traded value is more than $US2.17 trillion.
3. Apple ($3.29 trillion)
Apple has slipped back to third spot on the list.
It has been involved in a running battle with Nvidia and Microsoft in the top three, but its stock recently slipped 1.1 percent as Nvidia's rose to the top.
Apple had announced a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI to power some of its phone's features. Although the partnership will likely give the company a much-needed boost, Apple aligning itself with a company and a technology that have yet to win public trust has raised criticism, especially for taking user inputs and incorporating them into ChatGPT's data set.
Those may cause some privacy challenges down the road for a company that has long prioritised its users' safety and anonymity.
Still, a big push into AI could spur growth for iPhone sales and services for years to come, as users are now waiting longer to upgrade their devices and an uncertain economic environment weighs on consumers, particularly in China.
The company also faces regulatory scrutiny in Washington.
2. Microsoft ($3.32 trillion)
After a long stint at the top of this list, Microsoft remains at number two, worth a mere $US3.32 trillion.
The tech giant in January 2024 became the second company to pass the $US3 trillion mark as the artificial intelligence boom sent shares of the company's stock surging.
Its market value has held steady over $US3 trillion all year.
Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates started Microsoft in the 1980s.
It is part of the so-called "Magnificent 7", a group of stocks including Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla that have almost single-handedly boosted markets to new highs in early 2024.
Microsoft's market value is larger than the entire GDP of France and just behind that of the United Kingdom.
1. Nvidia ($3.34 trillion)
It's been a huge and rapid rise for Nvidia as companies rush to implement new AI technologies.
The company's market value expanded from $US1 trillion to $US2 trillion in the nine months to February, and it was just another three months before it cracked the US$3 trillion in June.