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Tim Cook stands in front of floor to ceiling windows
Tim Cook enters the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple HQ, where the company announces its new products.
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Close up of an iPhone screen displaying app icons
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A hand holds a mobile phone with AAPL stock information displayed on the screen

"Market cap" — short for "market capitalization" — is the total value of a public company's outstanding shares, which are those owned by stockholders, not by the company itself. Outstanding shares can be owned by employees and board members — just not the actual corporation.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook holding a gray iPhone 15
Apple CEO Tim Cook's net worth still doesn't make him one of the 1,000 richest people in the world.