This Day In Market History: Alphabet Briefly Becomes World's Most Valuable Company

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened? On this day in 2016, Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL briefly became the world’s largest public company.

Where Was The Market? The S&P 500 was trading at 1,939.38 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16,449.18.

What Else Was Going On In The World? In 2016, 195 countries joined together to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union via the Brexit referendum vote. In the U.S., in-state college tuition cost averaged $24,610.

A Short Reign: In February 2016, Google’s parent company Alphabet briefly passed Apple, Inc. AAPL as the world’s largest company by market cap. Alphabet’s stock jumped after the company reported better-than-expected earnings, but Apple regained its title only two days later. Apple expanded its lead over Google in 2017, gaining 42.6% on the year and finishing with a market cap of $868.8 billion compared to Alphabet’s $731.9 billion.