Alibaba Group held the record for the largest initial public offering before Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing.
Alibaba raised about $25 billion in its September 2014 IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The offering initially raised approximately $21.8 billion, but an overallotment option increased the total to around $25 billion.
The Chinese e-commerce group’s listing gave international investors access to one of the world’s largest online retail and digital-services businesses. Its market value made it one of the most valuable newly public companies at the time.
Saudi Aramco’s December 2019 IPO raised about $25.6 billion, narrowly exceeding Alibaba’s total. IPO proceeds are new capital raised by a company, while market capitalization is the value of its publicly traded shares after listing.