Apple Now Most Valuable Company Of All Time

It’s a shame that Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t live to see his company become the most valuable public company of all time, a feat the technology giant achieved today with a $621 billion market cap high.

After decades of living in Microsoft’s shadow, Apple has officially become the most valuable company in history (Microsoft previously set the record with $618.9 billion in December of 1999). The company’s stock is trading at $664.12 per share, and reached a record price of $664.74 per share in trading today, reports TechCrunch.

Bean counters say that rumors of a smaller iPad and a more feature-rich Apple TV, in addition to the advent launch of the new iPhone in September, are primarily responsible for the company’s recent stock lift.

According to CNN Money, Apple’s crowning as most valuable company is “a stunning achievement for a company that was a struggling also-ran when Microsoft was setting records in the late 1990s,” also noting that Apple was valued at less than $10 billion in 2004, and at $100 billion a mere three years ago.

“To be the biggest company in the world, there has to be a lot of things working well,” James Kelleher of Argus Research told USA Today. “It’s the sense that anything Apple touches turns to gold.”

Despite the recent achievement, Apple is also staring down some of the market’s most unique risks. Since the world of technology is one of fast and frequent turnover, the pressure to keep up is immense. Smartphones, Apple’s specialty and biggest cash-cow, are quickly becoming a replacement business, and tablets (of which Apple dominates with a 90% market share) are likely to face increasing competition in the coming years.

Still, the milestone of “most valuable company” is one to take time to celebrate for Apple.