Saudi Aramco held the world’s largest IPO and debuted with a market capitalization near $1.9 trillion.
Saudi Aramco began trading on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019 after selling shares to the public. The initial offering raised about $25.6 billion, making it the largest IPO at that time, and the company’s opening valuation was close to $1.9 trillion.
The oil producer is the national petroleum company of Saudi Arabia and is among the world’s largest producers of crude oil. Its enormous reserves, production scale, and role in the Saudi economy made the listing globally significant.
The IPO record is separate from a company’s market-cap ranking. An offering measures how much new or existing shares are sold, while market capitalization measures the value of all outstanding shares. Saudi Aramco’s valuation briefly exceeded $2 trillion during its early trading period.