Chip designer and artificial intelligence juggernaut Nvidia narrowly topped Microsoft’s market capitalization Tuesday to become the world’s most valuable public company, less than two weeks after it surpassed Apple’s market cap following months of strong stock gains.

BIG NUMBER

177%. That’s how much Nvidia’s market cap has spiked since the start of the year, when shares traded at $48.17 (adjusted for stock split).

FORBES VALUATION

We estimate Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth at $118.8 billion, making him the 11th-richest person in the world—the highest ranking he’s secured on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.

KEY BACKGROUND

Nvidia’s milestone comes amid an artificial intelligence craze that has made its chips and graphics processing units increasingly valuable to fellow tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet. Microsoft is estimated to make up 15% of Nvidia’s revenue, according to Bloomberg supply chain data, and Nvidia is estimated to control between 70% and 95% of the AI chip market, CNBC reported, citing Mizuho Securities. Nvidia, which reported $8.4 billion in net income in its 2023 fiscal year, shows little to no signs of slowing down, as analysts forecast its net income to surpass Apple’s in just four years.