Cupertino, California - Tech giant Apple became the first company in history to reach a stock market value of $3 trillion on Monday.

Shares in the iPhone maker temporarily rose by about 3% to $182.88, which pushed the company over the 3 trillion mark for the first time.

It means in under a year and a half, Apple's market capitalization rose by another trillion.

Apple became the first company in history to be valued at a trillion dollars in August 2018.

In 2021 alone, Apple's share price rose by almost 34%. This made shares in the world's most valuable listed company the eighth best performing on the Dow Jones.

At the end of 2021, Apple's market value stood at $2.91 trillion, putting the Californian company well ahead of rival Microsoft, a significant reversal after the software provider temporarily overtook Apple during the year.

A quick look at the medium and long-term performance of Apple shares, which have been listed on the stock exchange since 1980, shows how sustainable the company's success is.

Shareholders with shares in the company for five years or more will have seen their investment increase more than sixfold.

Since the beginning of 2002, the share price has risen by around 43,000%, meaning that a $1,000 investment in Apple 20 years ago is now worth around $430,000.

The increase since the company's IPO is even more pronounced. Anyone who invested $1,000 and has not yet sold their shares now has more than $1.8 million worth of Apple stock in their portfolio.