Saudi Aramco was the first publicly traded business to surpass a $2 trillion market value.
The Saudi Arabian oil company briefly reached that valuation in December 2019, shortly after its shares began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange. Its initial public offering was the largest in history at the time, raising about $25.6 billion and valuing the company at approximately $1.7 trillion at the offer price.
Saudi Aramco’s enormous valuation reflected its vast oil reserves, high production capacity, and exceptionally profitable upstream business. The company is majority-owned by the Saudi government, even though a portion of its shares is publicly traded.
The $2 trillion figure was a market-cap value, not the amount raised in the IPO. The offering raised tens of billions of dollars, while the value of all shares briefly exceeded two trillion dollars. Oil prices and investor expectations can cause that valuation to move substantially.