It’s been a closely run race but Apple yesterday crossed the finish line as the first big tech company to be valued at $1 trillion.

The astonishing valuation came following this week’s earnings release which beat expectations and pushed shares to $207.05, which valued the company sightly over the magic number. Apple shares have risen by 1,100% since 2007 and have jumped almost a third in the past year. In fact, since the company first listed in 1980 its valuation has increased by 50,000%.

It means Apple’s stock market value is larger than the economies than some countries.

Strong Growth

The company racked up profits of $11.5 billion in three months on the back of record sales that hit $53.3 billion, pushing shares of the tech giant higher and nudging it towards the trillion dollar valuation. Last year its sales hit $229 billion, with profits of $48.4 billion, making it the most profitable listed US company. While iPhone sales have slowed it has shifted more than 1.4 billion units since launch, and its revenue has increased 20% year on year.

The company is currenly sitting on a $285 billion mountain of cash reserves.

“Growth was strong all around the world,” Apple’s finance chief, Luca Maestri, said.

More Money, Less Tax

While Apple celebrates a landmark valuation, it’s not without controversy. Apple has been heavily criticised for its attitude towards the payment of corporation tax and the labour conditions faced by the factory workers who make the products it sells at huge margins.

Las year the European commission ruled that Apple should pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland, finding that its use of arcane corporate structures to limit its tax payments was illegal. Among the revelations that emerged in 2017 it was discovered that Apple had secretly shifted key parts of its business to Jersey as part of a complex rearrangement that allowed it to keep an ultra-low tax rate according to an investigation by the Guardian.

Amazon has also been accused of similar practices, reporting its revenues from UK sales through a separate company based in Luxembourg. Amazon’s tax burden has fallen this year across its business units, its retail logistics arm, paying tax of £1.7 million down from £7.4 million in 2016.

Alphabet (Google), Amazon and Microsoft have also been surging in value in recent years also, and all now have a chance at crossing the $1 trillion finish line despite Apple beating them to it. Whether they pay the appropriate levels of UK tax remains to be seen, as many call for an overhaul of corporation tax rules and the need for a new digital taxation system.