Which company became the first Latin American company to exceed a US$100 billion market capitalization?

Petróleo Brasileiro, commonly called Petrobras, became the first Latin American company to exceed a US$100 billion market capitalization.

The Brazilian state-controlled oil company reached the milestone during the commodities boom of the 2000s, when rising oil prices and major offshore discoveries increased investor interest. Petrobras is especially associated with Brazil’s pre-salt oil fields, located beneath thick layers of rock and salt offshore.

Petrobras is listed in Brazil and in the United States through American depositary receipts. Its market value has changed sharply over time because energy prices, production expectations, government policy and corporate-governance concerns all affect how investors value the company.

The milestone is sometimes confused with later records involving Mercado Libre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform by market value at various points. Petrobras’s distinction came from being the region’s first company to pass the US$100 billion equity-valuation threshold.