While it was at its peak Apple became the company with the highest capitalization of any company anywhere, Q4 profit in 2012 higher than any non-oil company had ever posted, in effect making it the most successful company in the world.

FORBES: Why China and Korea's Priorities May Decide The Smartphone Wars

To be sure the stock market values high tech companies so highly (incredibly, Microsoft ranks second in terms of market capitalization, lagging only Exxon), partly because of their high profit margins and prospects for future growth.

FORBES: Black gold

Companies, according to the report, will be eligible for listing if they have a market capitalization of at least 30 billion yuan and have a combined net profit of at least 3 billion yuan in the three years preceding the listing.

FORBES: Foreign Companies to List Shares in Shanghai

It also far exceeds its competitors in a number of different ways: market capitalization, enterprise value, revenue, gross margin, and profit margin.

FORBES: SeaDrill Pumping Out Fat Dividends

One measure of how expensive REITs have become is capitalization rates, defined as net operating income (profit after operating expenses but before debt service) divided by a property's value.

FORBES: Magazine Article