Nvidia, a key player in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, has become the world’s most valuable company, taking the top spot from Microsoft.
On Tuesday, Nvidia’s market value reached $3.335 trillion as its stock price increased by 3.5 percent to $135.58.
This achievement comes shortly after Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, surpassed Apple to become the second most valuable company in the world.
In comparison, shares of Microsoft and Apple, now in the second and third positions, fell by 0.45 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
Nvidia’s recent success has also helped lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes to new highs. The company’s graphics processing units (GPUs) are essential for AI development, driving high demand from tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Google.
Its stock price has soared nearly 182 percent this year, following a more than threefold increase in 2023.
Nvidia holds about 80 percent of the market for AI chips used in data centres, which are crucial for running AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Since going public in 1999, Nvidia’s shares have increased by 591,078 percent. An initial investment of $10,000 in 1999 would now be worth $59,107,800, according to the Kobeissi Letter newsletter on capital markets.
Originally, Nvidia focused on making chips for video games. However, in the 2000s, CEO Jensen Huang led the company to invest in developing GPUs for other uses, preparing it to benefit from the rise of AI.
Huang’s leadership has not only boosted Nvidia’s value but has also made him one of the world’s richest individuals, with an estimated net worth of over $117 billion,according to Forbes.
