Saudi Aramco became the first non-technology company to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization in December 2019. Its shares rose after the world's largest initial public offering brought the Saudi oil company to public markets.
Saudi Aramco is formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. Saudi Arabia retains a controlling ownership stake, while a portion of the company trades on the Saudi Stock Exchange, also called Tadawul.
The milestone is sometimes described as an oil-price record, but it was specifically a stock-market valuation. Market capitalization reflects investors' valuation of the listed shares and can differ from measures such as reserves, revenue, or government-owned assets.