Apple, Amazon, Microsoft are bigger than EVERY unicorn combined

Unicorns are pretty impressive, and retail investors can get envious of being able to buy into them easily.

The definition of a unicorn is a private company that’s reached a valuation of US$1 billion ($1.37 billion). It’s an arbitrary threshold that indicates startup success.

Usually by then the founders and early investors will have become pretty wealthy.

But research firm CB Insights this week posted a graph that shows shareholders of publicly listed companies need not worry about missing out.

Every unicorn COMBINED is worth less than Apple, Amazon or Microsoft https://t.co/MVuiaqHdhU

(poll question follows) pic.twitter.com/Z9DUkEQSUc

— CB Insights (@CBinsights) September 15, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The chart showed how all 488 unicorns in the world add up to a total value of US$1.54 trillion.

But just Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) by itself is worth $500 billion more – sitting at US$2.07 trillion. 

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), at US$1.65 trillion each, also outsize the entire cohort of unicorns on the globe.

It shows how tiny unicorns are compared to the vast pool of public companies out there for retail investors to put their money in.

How to emulate unicorn investment

And although not always true, once unicorns reach such a size, many will consider listing.

In the US, Airbnb and Palantir are startups that contributed to the very formation of the term “unicorn”. But they have announced their intentions to go public in the coming months.

In Australia, retail investors often don’t even have to wait until startups become unicorns. Limited private capital means emerging companies will take their chances at an initial public offering (IPO) well before they’re a billion-dollar company.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) was established in 2006, but went public on the New Zealand Exchange just one year afterwards. 

It started on the ASX in 2012 for $4.65 per share, and is now solely listed there at $90.90. That’s better than a 19-fold increase in just 8 years.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) started trading on the ASX in 2017 for $2.95 per share. Even after a correction this month it’s now at $75.01 – more than 2400% surge in 3 years.

Both these market darlings have been as good as investing in any emerging private company.

More reading

• Amazon’s Luxury Stores just dealt another blow to department stores
• Why Afterpay, Clinuvel, Kogan, & SEEK shares are storming higher today
• Better buy: Slack Technologies vs Microsoft
• Are biotech shares like Polynovo (ASX:PNV) a better buy than Afterpay?
• Forget Afterpay (ASX:APT) shares, buy these 3 growth shares

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Tony Yoo owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, Amazon, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Xero and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft, short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Apple. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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