Saudi Aramco became the first company headquartered outside the United States to reach a US$1 trillion market capitalization.
The milestone occurred when Saudi Aramco began trading publicly in Saudi Arabia in December 2019. Its shares surged on the first two trading days, taking the company above the trillion-dollar level and briefly making it the world’s most valuable listed company by market capitalization.
Saudi Aramco is headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and its principal business is the exploration, production, processing, transportation, and marketing of hydrocarbons. Its listing therefore broadened the group of companies capable of reaching valuations previously associated mainly with American technology corporations.
The wording “headquartered outside the United States” distinguishes this achievement from the global location of investors or customers. A company can trade internationally while still having a legally and operationally significant headquarters in its home country.