Saudi Aramco was the first company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization on the Saudi Exchange.
Saudi Aramco reached the level shortly after its December 2019 listing, when its shares rose on the exchange in Riyadh. The company was valued at about $1.9 trillion at the end of its second trading day, making it one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded businesses.
Saudi Aramco’s importance comes from its enormous petroleum reserves, large-scale production and integrated refining and chemicals operations. The company was created in its modern corporate form from the former Arabian American Oil Company and remains majority owned by the Saudi government.
This fact is distinct from the record for the world’s largest IPO by proceeds. The 2019 listing holds that IPO record, while the market-capitalization milestone concerns the company’s value after its shares began trading.