Saudi Aramco became the world's largest publicly traded company by market value after its 2019 IPO.
Saudi Aramco began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, known as Tadawul, on December 11, 2019. The offering valued the company at about $1.7 trillion, and its shares briefly pushed the company’s market value to around $2 trillion.
The company is Saudi Arabia’s national oil and gas enterprise. Its roots reach back to the 1933 oil concession granted to Standard Oil of California, later known as Chevron. Oil production began in the 1930s, and the Saudi government gradually took ownership before full control was completed in the 1980s.
The IPO sold only a small portion of the company, so Saudi Aramco remained largely state-owned. Market rankings can change daily with share prices and exchange rates, which is why “largest” claims are tied to a particular date or valuation snapshot.