Saudi Aramco’s 2019 initial public offering was conducted on Tadawul, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange.
Saudi Aramco began trading publicly in December 2019 after selling shares to investors. The listing was notable because the company was already one of the world’s largest oil producers and because its valuation immediately placed it among the largest publicly traded companies by market capitalization.
Tadawul is the trading name of the Saudi Exchange, based in Riyadh. Saudi Aramco remains majority-owned by the Saudi government, so the IPO did not transfer control of the company to public investors.
The offering is often confused with a foreign listing because many globally famous companies trade in New York or London. Saudi Aramco’s primary listing, however, is in Saudi Arabia. Its size, oil reserves, production role, and state ownership make it a distinctive case in comparisons of the world’s richest companies.