I consider the initial public offiering as the beginning of a stock even though the company existed
Dec 2004 Great Wolf Lodge initial public offering (IPO)
Dec 1980 Apple IPO
On November 30, 1999, Exxon and Mobil join to form Exxon Mobil Corporation
Exxon was the Standard Oil Trust formed in 1882
In 1972, Exxon changed it name from Jersey Standard
Mobil has been around as Mobil since 1966 but was the Vacuum Oil company since 1866.