Saudi Aramco set a record by being valued at about $1.9 trillion in its 2019 initial public offering.
Saudi Aramco began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange in December 2019 after selling shares to the public. The IPO priced the company at approximately $1.9 trillion, making it the largest initial public offering by proceeds at the time and briefly making Aramco the world’s most valuable listed company by market capitalization.
The offering was part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plans to diversify the economy and develop non-oil industries. Aramco remained majority-owned by the Saudi government, while the IPO made a small portion of the company available to public investors.
The $1.9 trillion figure is often rounded to $2 trillion, but the specific IPO valuation was approximately $1.9 trillion. This differs from a later market value, which can change as the listed shares trade and as oil prices and investor expectations move.