Microsoft ranks second with a market cap of $408.68 billion, the company saw its share price rise 33 percent this year as its new CEO, Satya Nadella, has begun his effort to revive the company. Exxon Mobil fell to the third position with a market cap of $402.66 billion as declining oil prices put pressure on the stock.
It isn’t the first time Exxon has been superseded by a technology company in the No. 2 slot. Google Inc., operator of the world’s most popular search engine, surpassed its market value for four days in February and two in March, rising as high as $410 billion. Its 0.8 percent retreat in 2014 has pushed it down to about $373 billion as of today.
Microsoft (MSFT) has climbed 33 percent this year, adding almost $100 billion to its equity value, as its new chief executive officer, Satya Nadella, began his effort to revive the company. The world’s largest software maker last month reported quarterly sales that topped analysts’ estimates, driven by cloud-computing growth and recovering personal-computer sales.