From U.S. Steel becoming the world’s first billion-dollar company in 1901 to Nvidia’s rise toward a $5 trillion valuation, market capitalisation milestones trace a century-long shift in global economic power from heavy industry to consumer technology and now artificial intelligence.

In today’s global economy, one tonne of cocoa and one tonne of steel capture two very different kinds of value. The price of a tonne of cocoa is shown at around US$6,100, whereas a tonne of steel is marked at US$432.96.