Saudi Aramco became the largest company ever to launch an initial public offering when it listed shares in December 2019.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company sold a portion of its equity on the Saudi Stock Exchange, known as Tadawul. The offering raised about $25.6 billion initially, and an additional share option later increased the total to about $29.4 billion, making it the largest IPO at the time.
Saudi Aramco’s valuation was closely watched because it is one of the world’s largest oil producers and owns extensive petroleum reserves and infrastructure. Its market capitalization briefly reached about $2 trillion after listing, although market value changes with the share price.
The IPO did not sell the entire company. The Saudi government retained the overwhelming majority of shares, so the publicly traded portion represented only a fraction of Aramco’s ownership.