NEW YORK: Alphabet has become the fourth company in history to hit a $3 trillion market capitalisation, after its shares surged more than 4 percent on Monday, placing it alongside Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple in the elite valuation club.
The rally was sparked by a favourable U.S. antitrust ruling earlier this month. A district court previously ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search and related advertising, with the Department of Justice pushing for tough penalties including the forced divestiture of the Chrome browser.
However, Judge Amit Mehta stopped short of the most severe measures, a decision that reassured investors and sent Alphabet’s stock to record highs. Following the ruling, President Donald Trump congratulated the company, calling it “a very good day.”
Alphabet shares have climbed more than 30 percent this year, far outpacing the Nasdaq’s 15 percent gain over the same period.
A Two-Decade Journey to $3 Trillion
The milestone comes nearly 20 years after Google’s IPO and just over a decade since the creation of Alphabet as a holding company, with Google as its main subsidiary.
Alphabet chief executive officer Sundar Pichai, who took over from co-founder Larry Page in 2019, has been steering the company through intensifying competition and regulatory scrutiny.
AI Competition and Gemini Bet
The rapid rise of competitors such as Perplexity and OpenAI has reshaped the AI landscape and influenced regulatory attitudes, indirectly helping Google in its recent legal battle.
Alphabet’s push to secure its position in artificial intelligence is now heavily tied to Gemini, the company’s flagship suite of AI models, which Pichai has described as central to Google’s future.
