Saudi Aramco raised a record $25.6 billion in its 2019 initial public offering.
Saudi Aramco’s shares began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul, in December 2019. The offering made the company the world’s largest initial public offering at the time, surpassing Alibaba’s 2014 record.
The company is formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Company and is majority owned by the Saudi Arabian government. It operates across oil exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and related energy activities, giving it an unusually broad position in the petroleum industry.
Saudi Aramco’s market capitalization rose above $2 trillion shortly after listing, although market values fluctuate with share prices and oil-market expectations. The IPO involved only a small percentage of the company’s total shares, so the implied market capitalization was much larger than the cash raised in the offering.