Saudi Aramco held the world's largest initial public offering when it listed shares in 2019.
Saudi Aramco sold shares on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The offering raised approximately $25.6 billion, and an additional share-allotment option later increased the total to roughly $29.4 billion. The company offered about 1.5% of its shares to investors.
The listing attracted exceptional attention because Saudi Aramco is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia and controls extensive petroleum production, refining, and distribution operations. Its valuation briefly reached about $2 trillion after trading began, making it one of the most valuable listed companies in the world.
The record is specifically about the size of an IPO, not a company's total market capitalization. Alibaba's 2014 New York listing was the previous widely recognized record, raising about $25 billion before Saudi Aramco surpassed it.