Microsoft Overtakes Oil Giant Exxon as 2nd Largest Traded Company

FILE - In this April 2, 2014 file photo, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gestures during the keynote address of the Build Conference in San Francisco. Microsoft plans to offer a glimpse of its vision for Windows on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, as Nadella seeks to redefine the company and recover from missteps with its flagship operating system. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

After a $47 billion loss in market value, Exxon Mobil has lost its coveted second place spot in market capitalization to none other than technology kingpin Microsoft.

Market capitalization is the metric by which companies are traditionally defined on the stock market - the total value of all a publicly traded company’s outstanding shares, calculated using share price and number of shares. By market capitalization, Microsoft figures at around $409 billion, while Exxon Mobil dipped to around $401 billion.

Apple, on the other hand, has consistently dominated market capitalization in the past three years, holding the top spot for all four quarters in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2011, they swapped leads with Exxon Mobil several times as the energy industry took a heavy hit and technology had an upswing.

Republished with permission from Neowin. Read the full article here.