Apple’s march to $1 trillion
SAN FRANCISCO — The stock market value of Apple Inc. crossed $1 trillion on Thursday, a first for a publicly traded company. Here’s how it got there:
April 1976 — Apple is founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.
June 1977 — The Apple II computer is released.
December 1980 — Apple goes public and its stock begins trading on the Nasdaq.
April 1983 — Former PepsiCo executive John Sculley becomes Apple’s CEO after being recruited by Steve Jobs.
January 1984 — Jobs unveils the Macintosh, the first mass-market personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical interface on the display screen. September 1985 — Jobs leaves Apple’s board after company’s directors side with CEO John Sculley in a dispute between the two men. June 1993 — Longtime Apple employee Michael Spindler becomes CEO, replacing Sculley, who remains the company’s chairman. August 1993 — Apple releases the Newton, a touch-screen device that was supposed to work like a digital notepad.
October 1993 — Sculley steps down as Apple’s chairman after a disappointing earnings report.
February 1996 — Apple hires turnaround specialist Gil Amelio as its CEO after Spindler’s efforts to sell the company to Sun Microsystems or IBM unravel.
December 1996 — Apple buys Next Software, a company started by Jobs, for about $400 million. Jobs agrees to return to Apple as an adviser.
August 1997 — Apple announces it’s getting a $150 million infusion from archrival Microsoft to help keep the company afloat.
September 1997 — Apple announces Jobs will serve as its interim CEO.
May 1998 — Jobs unveils a new line of personal computers called the iMac.
January 2000 — Apple drops the “interim” preface from Jobs’ CEO title.
May 2001 — Apple opens its first retail stores in Virginia and California.
October 2001 — Jobs unveils a digital music player called the iPod.
April 2003 — Jobs unveils iTunes, a digital music store that initially only could be accessed on Apple devices. A version that worked on personal computers powered by Windows software came out six months later to broaden the market.
August 2004 — Jobs discloses he had surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
October 2005 — Tim Cook is promoted to chief operating officer. January 2007 — Jobs unveils the iPhone. March 2008 — Jobs announces an app store for the iPhone. January 2009 — Jobs takes a six-month leave of absence to tend to his health, temporarily turning the reins over to Cook.
January 2010 — Jobs unveils a tablet computer called the iPad.
January 2011 — Jobs takes an indefinite
leave of absence, leaving Cook in charge once again.
August 2011 — Jobs resigns as CEO and Cook succeeds him.
October 2011 — Jobs dies.
March 2012 — Apple announces it is restoring a quarterly dividend for the first time since 1995.
September 2014 — Apple announces the Apple Watch, its first new product since Jobs’ death.
March 2015 — Apple becomes one of the 30 companies comprising the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
June 2015 — Apple launches its musicstreaming service.
June 2017 — Apple announces its first internet-connected speaker, the HomePod.
September 2017 — Apple unveils its first $1,000 phone, the iPhone X, in celebration of the product line’s 10th anniversary.
August 2018 — Apple becomes the first publicly traded company valued at $1 trillion.