Apple, the maker of the iPhone and iPad, briefly overtook Exxon Mobil, an oil conglomerate, to become the world's most valuable company by market capitalisation on August 10th. When debt is included, it is General Electric (GE) that takes top spot as the world's largest non-financial company. GE's size is skewed by its large financial arm, from which it derives around one-third of its revenue. Nevertheless, Apple's rise has been nothing short of meteoric. In 1997, when Steve Jobs rejoined the company he had co-founded, it was worth just $2 billion. In 2008, shortly after the launch of the iPhone, it was the world's 29th-largest company. Since then its share price has risen nearly fivefold.
