Saudi Aramco became the first publicly listed company outside the United States to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization in December 2019.
The milestone followed Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering on the Saudi Stock Exchange, known as Tadawul, in December 2019. The offering valued the company at about $1.7 trillion at its listing, and a rise in its share price soon pushed its market value above $2 trillion.
Saudi Aramco is formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Company. It is one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies and controls enormous oil reserves and production operations in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government remains its dominant shareholder.
The $2 trillion figure was an estimate based on publicly traded shares and did not mean the company had $2 trillion in cash. Apple had reached the same valuation earlier in 2020, but Saudi Aramco’s achievement was notable because it followed one of the world’s largest initial public offerings.