Saudi Aramco was the first Middle Eastern company to exceed a $2 trillion market capitalization.
Saudi Aramco briefly surpassed a $2 trillion market value in December 2019, shortly after its shares began trading publicly on the Saudi Stock Exchange. The company’s initial public offering was conducted in Riyadh and became one of the largest share offerings ever recorded.
Saudi Aramco is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia and is headquartered in Dhahran. It traces its corporate history to the discovery and development of Saudi oil resources by the Arabian American Oil Company, commonly known as Aramco. The Saudi government later consolidated ownership.
The company’s valuation is closely linked to oil prices, production expectations, reserves, and investor views about the global energy transition. Saudi Aramco is not the same entity as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The government remains the dominant shareholder even though a portion of the company is publicly traded.