Saudi Aramco became the world’s most valuable listed company when it debuted on the stock market in December 2019.
Saudi Aramco began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, on December 11, 2019. The initial public offering valued the company at about $1.7 trillion, and its shares rose on the first day, briefly taking its market capitalization close to $2 trillion.
The offering was part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic program, which seeks to diversify the country’s economy beyond oil. The government sold a minority stake while retaining overwhelming ownership of the company.
Saudi Aramco is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia and one of the world’s largest petroleum producers. A frequent error is treating its IPO valuation as the same as the value of all Saudi state assets; the market-cap figure applied specifically to Saudi Aramco’s outstanding shares.