Apple CEO Tim Cook has penned an internal memo to troops in which he thanked employees for helping the company achieve a record-setting $1 trillion market capitalization while cautioning that the money is “not the most important measure of our success.”
The high-water mark is a “significant milestone” of which there is “much to be proud,” Cook said, but also underscored that stellar “financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first and always staying true to our values.”
BuzzFeed News has Cook’s full email:
Team,
Today Apple passed a significant milestone. At our closing share price of $207.39, the stock market now values Apple at more than $1 trillion. While we have much to be proud of in this achievement, it’s not the most important measure of our success. Financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first, and always staying true to our values.
It’s you, our team, that makes Apple great and our success is due to your hard work, dedication and passion. I am deeply humbled by what you do and it’s the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside you. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the late hours and extra trips, all the times you refuse to settle for anything less than excellence in our work together.
Let’s take this moment to thank our customers, our suppliers and business partners, the Apple developer community, our coworkers and all those who came before us at this remarkable company.
Steve founded Apple on the belief that the power of human creativity can solve even the biggest challenges—and that the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do. In today’s world, our mission is more important than ever. Our products not only create moments of surprise and delight, they empower people all around the globe to enrich their lives and the lives of others.
Just as Steve always did in moments like this, we should all look forward to Apple’s bright future and the great work we’ll do together.
Tim
Thursday afternoon, the iPhone maker’s become the first publicly-traded company in the United States to hit a $1 trillion valuation when its stock price hit $207.05. No matter how you look at the figure, that’s a huge milestone—not just for Apple itself but the market as a whole.
$AAPL closed the day at $1.002 trillion.
As Daring Fireball’s John Gruber succinctly observed, that “.002” looks insignificant but represents $2 billion, which is about what the entire company was worth back in 1996.
Some other fun stats: the company’s current stock market valuation at $1+ trillion is greater than the combined capitalization of the oil giant Exxon Mobil, consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble and carrier AT&T, accounting for 4% of the S&P 500.
What do you make of Cook’s memo?
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