Saudi Aramco was the first company to reach a $2 trillion valuation while remaining majority owned by a national government.
Saudi Aramco crossed the $2 trillion market-cap level shortly after its December 2019 listing. The Saudi government sold only a minority stake, leaving it as the dominant shareholder and preserving state control over the oil producer.
The company’s unusual ownership structure helps explain why its market value attracted global attention. A relatively small portion of shares traded publicly, yet the price of those shares implied a value for the entire company. This is the same basic market-cap method used for widely dispersed corporations.
Apple also passed $2 trillion, doing so in 2020, but it is not majority owned by a national government. PetroChina is state-controlled through CNPC, but Saudi Aramco’s 2019 milestone was the clearest early example at the $2 trillion level.