The value of the bulbs reached ridiculously high levels and pushed the company's share price up by 1,200%.

Prior to the bubble bursting in 1637, the Dutch East India Company was reportedly worth 78 million Dutch guilders. That's at least $9 trillion (£7tn) today, which, according to figures obtained via World Bank, is comfortably more than the combined GDPs of the Netherlands, France, and Germany today.

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From Dutch East India Company to General Electric: the most valuable companies of all time