Who Was #1? The Largest Companies Ranked Every Quarter (2000-2026)

In 2000, Microsoft led at $586B. Now Nvidia is worth $4.8 trillion. The lead changed hands 24 times between Mar 2000 and Jun 2026 - every quarter is on the chart. What you're watching A bar chart race of the top 12 largest companies by market capitalization, measured every quarter from Mar 2000 to Jun 2026 (88 quarters, 26 years). Each bar is the value for that quarter; bars re-order as the ranking changes. Between two quarterly lists the bars move smoothly from one measured value to the next (interpolation), so a lead change seen mid-way is an estimate; the counter shows the list in force. The first quarter starts with Microsoft at $586 billion. Chapters 00:00 The dot-com peak 00:33 After the crash 01:12 Oil and China lead 02:18 The Apple years 03:42 The trillion-dollar club 04:39 The Magnificent Seven 05:03 Nvidia takes over 05:15 Final standings Lead changes (24) Mar 2001: Microsoft to General Electric (00:12) Dec 2003: General Electric to Microsoft (00:45) Mar 2004: Microsoft to General Electric (00:48) Mar 2006: General Electric to ExxonMobil (01:12) Dec 2007: ExxonMobil to PetroChina (01:33) Mar 2008: PetroChina to ExxonMobil (01:36) Jun 2009: ExxonMobil to PetroChina (01:51) Sep 2009: PetroChina to ExxonMobil (01:54) Dec 2009: ExxonMobil to PetroChina (01:57) Jun 2010: PetroChina to ExxonMobil (02:03) Sep 2011: ExxonMobil to Apple (02:18) Dec 2011: Apple to ExxonMobil (02:21) Mar 2012: ExxonMobil to Apple (02:24) Jun 2013: Apple to ExxonMobil (02:39) Sep 2013: ExxonMobil to Apple (02:42) Dec 2018: Apple to Microsoft (03:45) Dec 2019: Microsoft to Apple (03:57) Mar 2020: Apple to Microsoft (04:00) Jun 2020: Microsoft to Apple (04:03) Mar 2024: Apple to Microsoft (04:48) Jun 2024: Microsoft to Apple (04:51) Sep 2024: Apple to Microsoft (04:54) Dec 2024: Microsoft to Apple (04:57) Jun 2025: Apple to Nvidia (05:03) Data List of public corporations by market capitalization (Wikipedia; Financial Times based): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of... - CC BY-SA 4.0 Notes on the data Top 10 listed companies by market capitalisation, USD billions, from the Wikipedia list (Financial Times based). Measured: 2000-2005 once a year (March, or December in 2002 and 2003), then every quarter end from 2006-03 to the newest quarter. Months in between are interpolated. A company outside the top 10 in a measured period is 0 there (the real value is below the 10th place and not on the page). Facebook and Meta, Google and Alphabet, Wal-Mart and Walmart are one entity each. CAVEAT: Saudi Aramco is not in the quarterly top-10 tables of the page (only in its trillion-dollar table), although it was valued above 1 trillion dollars from 2019-12; the quarters 2019-12 to 2022-12 therefore omit it. Logos Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons: Microsoft logo (2012); Apple logo black; Berkshire-Hathaway-Logo; ExxonMobil Logo; Alphabet Inc Logo 2015; Amazon logo; Meta Platforms Inc. logo; Johnson and Johnson Logo; General Electric logo; Shell wordmark 2019; ICBC China logo; Walmart logo (2008); Tencent Logo; Tesla T symbol; Tsmc-text; Nvidia logo; Alibaba en logo; Visa Inc. logo (2021 - present); Citigroup; Broadcom logo (2016-present); Logo of JPMorganChase 2024; Wells Fargo Logo (2020); Gazprom logo in russian languaje; Petrobras horizontal logo; Chevron Logo; Bp textlogo; AT&T logo 2016; Bank of America logo; IBM logo; BHP 2017 logo; Pfizer (2021); HSBC logo (2018); Eli Lilly and Company; Hoffmann-La Roche logo; Nestle textlogo blue; UnitedHealth Group logo; Intel logo (2006-2020); Toyota logo (Red); Procter & Gamble logo; Novartis-Logo-2023; Samsung wordmark; Cisco logo blue 2016; NTT-docomo-logo-2026; NTT 2025; Vodafone logo 2017; Deutsche Telekom 2022; American International Group Logo. Logos are trademarks of their owners; this channel is not affiliated with any brand shown. Thumbnail photos Jensen Huang (cropped).jpg: Prime Minister's Office, GODL-India, https://data.gov.in/sites/default/fil... - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Background removed. No voiceover, data only. Music made with ElevenLabs. #datavisualization #barchartrace #stocks #marketcap #nvidia #apple #microsoft