Saudi Aramco became the first publicly traded company to reach a US$2 trillion market capitalization.
Saudi Aramco reached the milestone shortly after its shares began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul, in December 2019. Its initial public offering was one of the largest in history, and the company’s share price rose to the level needed for a valuation near US$2 trillion.
The company is formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Company and is majority-owned by the Saudi government. It operates across oil exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and distribution. Its enormous reserves and position in the global petroleum industry underpin its scale.
The phrase “first publicly traded company” matters. Saudi Aramco had been state-owned for decades before the IPO, and only a minority of its shares was offered to the public. Apple became the first company to surpass US$2 trillion in 2020, so the two milestones are often incorrectly merged.