Apple becomes most valuable American company EVER and worth more than $2 trillion after 60% rise in share price

Apple is the first U.S. company to boast a market value of $2 trillion, just two years after it became the first to reach $1 trillion.

The company's share price rose more that 1 percent on Wednesday, to $468.35 at 11am, for a market capitalization of $2 trillion. 

Apple shares have gained nearly 60 percent this year as the company overcame the shutdown of factories in China that produce the iPhone and the closure of its retail sales amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The company's hugely loyal customer base trusts its products so much that they continued to buy iPhones and other devices online while stuck at home. 

But with the growth have come increasing question's about Apple's size and influence, with CEO Tim Cook and other top tech executives recently being called to testify in Congress and facing hard questions about potential antitrust concerns. 

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An all-time view of Apple's stock price is seen above.  The company's share price rose more that 1 percent on Wednesday, to $468.35 at 11am, for a market capitalization of $2 trillion

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A closed Apple Store is seen in Washington, DC in April. The company's loyal customers have continued to buy Apple products online despite the lockdowns

Saudi Aramco reached a market value of $2 trillion shortly after becoming a public company in December 2019. 

The Saudi energy producer's shares have fallen since amid a drop in oil prices and its market value is now about $1.82 trillion. 

Among U.S. companies, Apple is trailed by Amazon and Microsoft, the second and third-largest U.S. stocks, both of which have market caps under $1.7 trillion. 

Apple recently reported blowout earnings for the April-June quarter,

Apple's revenue grew across every category and all of its geographical regions in the June quarter, even as the coronavirus crisis caused the U.S. economy to collapse at its worst rate since the Great Depression. 

An upcoming four-for-one stock split that will make Apple´s shares more affordable to more investors also sparked a rally after it was announced three weeks ago.

Apple has been at the vanguard of a group of Big Tech companies that are increasingly taking over people's lives - and the stock market.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook delivering the keynote address during the 2020 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California in June

With Amazon, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet, all now worth around $1 trillion or more, the big U.S. tech companies are together worth more than $6 trillion. 

Just five companies - Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google´s parent company - account for nearly 23 percent of the S&P 500's entire value.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2 percent, a day after it wiped out the last of its losses created by the pandemic and surpassed its February 19 peak to set a new record. 

Started in the garage of co-founder Steve Jobs in 1976, Apple has pushed its revenue beyond the economic outputs of Portugal, Peru and other countries. The company was worth about $350 billion when Jobs died in 2011.

Current CEO Cook took over from Jobs in August 2011 and has more than doubled Apple's revenue and profits under his leadership. 

Cook's net worth, based largely on his shares in Apple, has since exceeded $1 billion. 

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Apple CEO was called to testify before Congress last month over antitrust concerns

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Apple's market capitalization exceeded the $2 trillion mark around 11am on Wednesday

Last week, 'Fortnite' video game giant Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of 'monopolistic' behavior for demanding a 30 percent cut of all fees charged by apps in its ecosystem. 

The suit seeks a court order ending Apple's commission structure and forcing Apple to allow users to install software on iPhones outside the confines of the App Store. 

Apple takes a cut of between 15 percent and 30 percent for most app subscriptions and payments made inside apps, though there are some exceptions for companies that already have a credit card on file for iPhone customers if they also offer an in-app payment that would benefit Apple. 

Epic's lawsuit relies almost completely on the one argument that Apple's iOS app distribution and in-app payment systems are their own markets. It also goes further to argue that Apple purposely created those markets by building an 'ecosystem' of devices and services meant to favor Apple products.

'A customer choosing to purchase or switch to a non-Apple device loses access to these services, leading to increased costs a customer must face when choosing to leave Apple´s ecosystem,' Epic wrote.

In a statement, Apple said Fortnite was removed because Epic had launched the payment feature with the 'express intent of violating the App Store guidelines' after having had apps in the store for a decade.

'The fact that their (Epic) business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users,' Apple said.

Apple's primary defense in the past when confronted with allegations of anticompetitive practices is that it does not have a majority share of the global smartphone market.

'Apple does not have a dominant market share in any market where we do business,' Chief Executive Tim Cook told the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on competition in digital markets in July.

On Wednesday, the US International Trade Commission said it would investigate an allegation from Japanese tech firm Maxell that Apple had infringed patents in its 'Maps' and 'Find My Friends' iPhone apps.