If you’ve been watching the news, you probably have heard about Apple’s recent triumph as the first American public company to surpass one trillion dollars. Yes, that’s right: one trillion dollars! A whole sequence of a one followed by twelve zeros. Perhaps this doesn’t surprise you, but did you know that Apple was almost bankrupt around twenty years ago? This is where it gets interesting. You might be wondering how it secured such an enormous valuation now, so let’s take a few steps back and look at the company’s timeline.
1976: Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak Founded Apple Computers, Inc.
When Apple first started out, their only product was the personal computer. Several years after releasing the second version of their personal computer, Apple stocks were valued at around $22 per share, with roughly 4.6 million shares available.
1985: Steve Jobs Leaves Apple Computers, Inc.
After having a disappointing run with their new and updated personal computer, Lisa, Jobs leaves Apple and pursues a new project, which results in the creation of a company called NeXT Software. After what ends up being around an eleven-year run for Jobs without Apple, Apple ends up buying NeXT Software, and only a year later brings Jobs back in as the Interim CEO of Apple, as the company is recovering from some darker days of an Apple without Jobs.
In 1997, the company suffered challenging times in Silicon Valley because Microsoft’s domination, causing the company to nearly go bankrupt by 1998. In 2000, Steve Jobs officially becomes the permanent CEO of Apple and the first iPhone is released seven years later.
2011: The iCloud is Introduced
Now on an upward swing and sustaining some steady recovery, Apple releases its online storage system, known as the iCloud. Sadly, not long after the reveal of the iCloud, Steve Jobs steps down as CEO, passes on the role to Tim Cook, and then passes away several months later.
2018: Apple Achieves Trillion-Dollar Valuation
Despite any issues the company may have encountered in the years follow Steve Jobs’ death, the company has clearly been doing swimmingly, if anything, the numbers proving so now.
It has clearly been a crawl to the top, but Apple’s success is now highly evident. Let’s see what Apple can show us in 25 years!
