Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
In 2023, technology company NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) became the newest public company to hit a market capitalization of $1 trillion, joining a select club.
On Thursday, a previous member re-joined the club and beat one of its rivals.
What Happened: In early 2024, a battle between technology giants Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has seen the title of “most valuable public company in the world” change hands a couple of times.
While Microsoft and Apple are battling it out for the crown with market capitalizations of more than $3 trillion each, a separate contest has already declared its victor.
Among the companies that were close to a market capitalization of $1 trillion were Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) at the time Nividia joined the club.
On Thursday, Meta Platforms hit a market capitalization of $1 trillion to re-join the club, of which it was previously a member.
Currently, there are seven companies with a value of $1 trillion or more:
Tesla has fallen to 12th place and has a market capitalization of $575.31 billion as of the time of writing, with shares down 13% on Thursday after reporting fourth quarter financial results Wednesday after market close.
Related Link: Trading Strategies For Tesla Stock Post Q3 Earnings Miss
Why It's Important: While Tesla and Meta Platforms don't directly compete with each other on many businesses, their CEOs have a budding rivalry.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were set to take part in a cage match for several months, before talks appear to have broken down. Musk has often poked fun at Zuckerberg and any failures that Meta Platforms experienced.
Zuckerberg was accused of copying features of Twitter, now known as X, which is a social media platform owned by Musk.
When Nvidia joined the $1 trillion club, Benzinga polled its Twitter users to see which company could be next. The results at the time (May 2023) were:
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc: 12.9%
- Meta Platforms: 15%
- Tesla: 53.8%
- Taiwan Semiconductor: +18.2%
Musk was the richest person in the world in 2023 with a year-end valuation of $229 billion, according to Bloomberg. The billionaire added $92.0 billion to his wealth in 2023. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg was the sixth-richest person in the world in 2023, valued at $141 billion, gaining $82.5 billion in wealth in 2023.
Prior to Thursday's drop in Tesla's valuation, Musk was valued at $216 billion. Zuckerberg ranks fifth at $141 billion as of Wednesday. So far in 2024, the billionaires’ fortunes have shifted, with Musk losing $12.9 billion and Zuckerberg gaining an identical $12.9 billion.
With Thursday's drop in Tesla valuation, Musk will take a hit to his wealth and continue his year-to-date declines and move closer to second place Jeff Bezos.
Read Next: Here’s How Much $1,000 Invested In Tesla Stock Will Be Worth If Cathie Wood’s Price Target For 2027 Comes True
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