Apple becomes first U.S. public company to be worth $2 trillion

A makeshift operation launched in a garage in California has become the most valuable public company in U.S. history.

Apple crossed the $2-trillion mark in trading today before falling slightly below that mark before the closing bell.

It's the first time that any U.S. public company reached this milestone.

Entrepreneurs Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started making Apple computers in the 1970s at the Jobs family home in Los Altos, California.

A third cofounder, Ronald Wayne, sold his 10 percent stake to Jobs and Wozniak for US$800 just 12 days writing a partnership agreement on April 1, 1976.

Jobs left Apple in the 1980s and returned in 1997, turning the company around from near-bankruptcy. He died in 2011 after turning over the reins to the chief operating officer, Tim Cook.

In 2018, Apple achieved another milestone—becoming the first public company with a market value of $1 trillion.

This year, Apple shares have risen in value by 54 percent. In 2019, they climbed by 86 percent, marking the largest increase of any of the 30 large-cap stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In addition to making iPhones and computers, it operates the iTunes Store and Apple Store. In recent years, the company has launched Apple Pay, Apple TV, and Apple Card, among other services. It has more than 500 retail stores around the world.