Money /

Copied

A business and tech milestone today: A little after 2:30pm, Apple overtook Microsoft to become the most valued technology company in the world, reports the New York Times. Apple ended the day with a market capitalization worth $222.1 billion, vs. Microsoft's $219.2 billion. Among US companies, Apple now trails only Exxon at $282 billion.

"This changing of the guard caps one of the most stunning turnarounds in business history, as Apple had been given up for dead only a decade earlier," write Miguel Helft and Ashlee Vance. "But the rapidly rising value attached to Apple by investors also heralds a cultural shift: Consumer tastes have overtaken the needs of business as the leading force shaping technology." (Read more Apple stories.)