**What Was the Biggest Company in History? - $7.9 Trillion! — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/biggest-company-history-7-9-trillion/ Explore the biggest companies in history, culminating with the Dutch East India Company valued at $7.9 trillion in 1637, the first public company and financial empire. ## Key Takeaways - The Dutch East India Company was the largest company ever, valued at $7.9 trillion in 1637. - Historical companies had massive influence, often acting as states or empires. - Tulipmania was the first recorded financial bubble, linked to the Dutch East India Company. - Modern tech giants are dwarfed by some historical companies when adjusted for inflation. - The development of stock exchanges and monopolies shaped the modern financial system. ## What the video covers - The video ranks the 8 most valuable companies in history, adjusted for inflation. - Modern giants like Microsoft (1999) and Apple (2018) are included but overshadowed by historical companies. - Standard Oil, PetroChina, and Saudi Aramco are highlighted for their peak valuations and influence. - The South Sea Company and Mississippi Company from 1720 are noted for their speculative bubbles. - The Dutch East India Company, valued at $7.9 trillion in 1637, is the largest company ever. - Dutch East India Company was the first to go public on the world’s first stock exchange. - It operated as a state and empire with its own army, colonies, and extensive trade networks. - Tulipmania, the first financial bubble, was closely tied to the Dutch East India Company’s history. - The company dominated spice trade, which was highly valuable for preservation, medicine, and flavoring. - The video explains how the Dutch East India Company shaped global trade, geography, and finance. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction and Series Overview 2. 00:47 Top 8 Companies: Microsoft and Apple 3. 02:39 Historical Companies and Speculative Bubbles 4. 03:21 Standard Oil, PetroChina, and Saudi Aramco 5. 04:11 Dutch East India Company: Origins and Monopoly 6. 05:11 Tulipmania and Financial Bubble 7. 06:37 Dutch East India Company’s Empire and Trade 8. 08:45 Conclusion and Legacy of the Dutch East India Company Answers ## Questions about this video What was the biggest company in history by valuation? The Dutch East India Company was the biggest company in history, valued at $7.9 trillion in 1637 when adjusted for inflation. Why is the Dutch East India Company so significant? It was the first company to go public on the world’s first stock exchange, operated as a state with its own army, and shaped global trade and geography. What was Tulipmania and how is it related to the Dutch East India Company? Tulipmania was the first recorded financial bubble involving the speculative trading of tulip bulbs, which the Dutch East India Company incorporated into its operations, causing its stock price to soar. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A You are watching ColdFusion TV. Hi, welcome to another ColdFusion video. Since 2013, this channel has featured the "How BIG" series. Essentially, the series explores the size and scope of different companies. Recently, Apple has passed the one trillion dollar valuation mark, but since the "How BIG is Apple?" video already exists, 00:27 Speaker A I have the idea to take things a little further. I ask myself the question "What was the biggest company of all time?" In this video, we'll quickly touch on the 8 most valuable companies in history and then spend some time on number one because it's a fascinating story. 00:43 Speaker A I have the idea to take things a little further. I ask myself the question, "What was the biggest company of all time?" In this video, we'll quickly touch on the 8 most valuable companies in history and then spend some time on number one because it's a fascinating story. 00:47 Speaker A Alright, let's get into it At number 8, we have Microsoft in 1999. The company was valued at $0.9 trillion at the height of the dot-com bubble Number 7 is Apple in 2018. This is due to the persistent popularity of the iPhone which makes up about 70% of the company's profits 01:09 Speaker A This company was so large that they literally geographically shaped the world we know today. 01:28 Speaker A Standard Oil was soon broken up by the American government into well, pretty much every major American oil company At number 5, we have PetroChina. 01:39 Speaker A Alright, let's get into it. At number 8, we have Microsoft in 1999. The company was valued at $0.9 trillion at the height of the dot-com bubble. Number 7 is Apple in 2018. This is due to the persistent popularity of the iPhone, which makes up about 70% of the company's profits. 01:54 Speaker A From here on we have to step back in time, hundreds of years to reach the real heavyweights At number 3 and 2 respectively, are the South Sea company worth $4.3 trillion and the Mississippi company worth $6.5 trillion both in 1720. 02:10 Speaker A Though some do speculate that this trillion-dollar stock figure is more complicated due to low interest rates making it viable for the companies to buy back its own stock, pushing up the stock price further. At number 6, we have Standard Oil. In 1900, this company was worth $1 trillion. 02:28 Speaker A The speculators in these companies would coined the term 'millionaire' In reality, mass trade between the Americas didn't really end up happening and the bubble soon popped Okay, so on to number one Valued at a ridiculous $7.9 trillion in 1637 is the Dutch East India Company 02:49 Speaker A Standard Oil was soon broken up by the American government into, well, pretty much every major American oil company. At number 5, we have PetroChina. 03:04 Speaker A Trade was essentially how all countries made their money In 1600, the Dutch government was worried about England becoming dominant in trade To combat this threat, they sponsored the creation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 and allowed the firm to become a monopoly in Asian trade 03:21 Speaker A In 2007, they were valued at $1.4 trillion, and this was right at the peak of oil prices just before the GFC. The 4th most valuable company of all time is Saudi Aramco, valued at $4.1 trillion at its peak in 2010. 03:37 Speaker A Spices actually improved the quality of life Dutch East India Company is one of the most important companies in history and one of the reasons for this is that it was the very first company to go public on the world's first Stock Exchange 03:51 Speaker A From here on, we have to step back in time, hundreds of years, to reach the real heavyweights. At number 3 and 2 respectively, are the South Sea Company worth $4.3 trillion and the Mississippi Company worth $6.5 trillion, both in 1720. 04:11 Speaker A In order to keep their ports and continue trade, Dutch East India Company developed their own army to protect the land that they gained and this is where things start getting beyond any company that we can imagine today As the company grew, the foreign colonies gained more land and possessed a sense of governmental powers 04:28 Speaker A Of course, these numbers are adjusted for inflation. The reason for these astronomical valuations is quite interesting. In 1720, a bubble formed around speculation of trade between North and South America. The two companies mentioned promised that they could capitalize on trade between the American continents, and their stock rose accordingly. 04:45 Speaker A It doesn't stop there though there were also expansive sailing expeditions that resulted in the discovery of new land as it turns out the Dutch East India Company actually helps shaped the geographical knowledge of the modern world They would stay operational for two centuries, and had effectively transformed itself from a corporate entity into a state, and then an empire 05:06 Speaker A The speculators in these companies would coin the term 'millionaire.' In reality, mass trade between the Americas didn't really end up happening, and the bubble soon popped. Okay, so on to number one. Valued at a ridiculous $7.9 trillion in 1637 is the Dutch East India Company. 05:19 Speaker A Tulips to be exact, and the story of how this happened has gone down in infamy It tells us a deep archetype story. Although technologies in the world may advance, human nature remains the same Tulips were first introduced to Europe from Turkey and reached Amsterdam in 1554 05:36 Speaker A The story of the Dutch East India Company is absolutely fascinating. The story starts in the Netherlands in a time called the Golden Century, a period of Dutch history between 1600 and 1700 where Amsterdam was one of the richest cities in the world, due to its strong international trade. 05:51 Speaker A This rareness and the fact that there are status symbol and highly valued, made the tulip product a prime candidate for the first financial bubble in history The tulip bubble You see at the time, the Dutch were pioneers of modern finance 06:04 Speaker A Trade was essentially how all countries made their money. In 1600, the Dutch government was worried about England becoming dominant in trade. To combat this threat, they sponsored the creation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 and allowed the firm to become a monopoly in Asian trade. 06:21 Speaker A Over time, the tulip market became more complicated and flowers were priced according to their rarity As with all derivative markets, things tend to go out of control sometimes The prices of the tulips are pushed higher and higher by speculators who plan to turn around and sell them for a profit 06:37 Speaker A The company quickly became one of the dominant players in the trade of spices between Europe and Indonesia. Spices might not seem like much today, but back then spices were scarce and extremely valuable. They were used in medicine, to preserve cooked food, and to add flavour to meat. 06:49 Speaker A Many merchants sold all of their belongings to purchase a few tulip bulbs for the purpose of selling them at a higher profit than they could ever imagine in their lifetimes. 06:57 Speaker A Spices actually improved the quality of life. Dutch East India Company is one of the most important companies in history, and one of the reasons for this is that it was the very first company to go public on the world's first stock exchange. 07:09 Speaker A But it seemed like the tulips for a quick way to paradise and everyone wanted in During the build-up and height of Tulipmania, the Dutch East India Company incorporated the tulip trade into their operations and the stock price began to rocket upwards 07:25 Speaker A From here, it continued to grow until it had 70,000 employees at its peak. In the 1600s, that was more than 0.01% of the world's population working for this one company. The firm ran their own shipyards, built a network of hundreds of bases, and had anything from officers to warehouse and heavy work stations. 07:42 Speaker A By this point, the Dutch East India's value had risen to that infamous massive $7.9 trillion mark To highlight how huge this was just one more time, if you put Apple, Microsoft and Google together, Dutch East India Company was worth three times that combined value 08:01 Speaker A In order to keep their ports and continue trade, Dutch East India Company developed their own army to protect the land that they gained, and this is where things start getting beyond any company that we can imagine today. As the company grew, the foreign colonies gained more land and possessed a sense of governmental powers. 08:16 Speaker A It signaled to the market that people just weren't going to pay any higher for the plant This event caused the tulip price to fall a little Investors then got cold feet and decided to sell. So the price fell more 08:27 Speaker A The Dutch East India Company had the power to wage war, negotiate treaties, mint its own coins, and even established new colonies. The company was even used to fight against the Spanish Empire in the early 1600s, and remember, this was a publicly traded company doing all of this. 08:45 Speaker A The Dutch government would later make changes to the financial system to make sure that this never happened again So what about the Dutch East India Company? What happened to them? 08:55 Speaker A It doesn't stop there though. There were also expansive sailing expeditions that resulted in the discovery of new land. As it turns out, the Dutch East India Company actually helped shape the geographical knowledge of the modern world. They would stay operational for two centuries, and had effectively transformed itself from a corporate entity into a state, and then an empire. 09:09 Speaker A So, what does this tell us? The tulip bubble speaks of human nature and greed. Like many things in life, it's important to look at the underlying value of something and not just what everyone else thinks it's worth The Dutch East India Company size is completely unparalleled today. There were a complete government within themselves 09:30 Speaker A Ok, so now we know that the company started by trading spice and ended up a tyrannical empire. But what was its most profitable business? The answer isn't one you would expect. The peak of their wealth came from flowers. 09:44 Speaker A But all in all, I just thought that was an absolutely fascinating story and I wanted to share that with you So anyway, that is the end of the video. Thanks for watching This has been Dagogo and you've been watching ColdFusion. If you just stumbled across this channel, 09:56 Speaker A Tulips, to be exact, and the story of how this happened has gone down in infamy. It tells us a deep archetype story. Although technologies in the world may advance, human nature remains the same. Tulips were first introduced to Europe from Turkey and reached Amsterdam in 1554. 10:04 Speaker A Anyway, that's it and I'll catch you again soon for the next video. Cheers guys! 10:08 Speaker A The plants are immediately perceived as exotic goods, and their popularity began to rise. Having tulips in your garden became an important status symbol. In addition to this, the thing about tulips is they take seven to twelve months to flower and only bloom for about a week. Topics: Dutch East India Company biggest company in history financial bubble Tulipmania Standard Oil South Sea Company Mississippi Company Apple valuation Microsoft valuation historical companies --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/biggest-company-history-7-9-trillion/ — the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). Reuse and quotation are allowed with attribution and a link back. 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