Volkswagen becomes the World’s Biggest Company

Volkswagen became the world’s biggest company by market value after Porsche announced plans to raise its stake in the German carmaker to 75 percent, triggering demand from short-sellers.

Volkswagen rose as much as 485.01 euros, or 93 percent, to 1,005.01 euros and was up 55 percent as of 11:10 a.m. in Frankfurt trading. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen has risen more than fivefold this year and at its intraday peak was valued at 296 billion euros, or $370 billion, more than Exxon Mobil’s $343 billion market value at Monday’s closing price in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Below is the 6-month chart of VOLKSWAGEN AG (VLKAF) on the Pink OTC Markets.

Volkswagen shares are difficult for short-sellers to cover because it has free float estimated to be as low as 5%, with Porsche and the Lower State of Saxony holding much of the company.

At its high on Tuesday, VW was worth 295 billion euros, or $367 billion, making it more valuable than Toyota Motor (TM), Honda Motor(HMC), Nissan Motors(NSANY), Daimler(DAI),  Renault (FR:013190) , Peugeot (FR:012150) , General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F) combined -- not to mention the paltry 4.8 billion euro market cap of Porsche.