Which Saudi company made the largest initial public offering in history in 2019?

Saudi Aramco made the largest initial public offering in history in 2019.

The state-controlled oil company sold shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange, known as Tadawul, in December 2019. The offering raised about $25.6 billion initially, and an additional share-allocation option later increased the total to roughly $29.4 billion.

Saudi Aramco is formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Company. It operates some of the world’s largest oil reserves and has historically been one of the most profitable companies by annual earnings. Its enormous profits and limited share float helped make it one of the world’s most valuable listed businesses.

The IPO is sometimes compared with the market values of technology giants, but an IPO measures newly sold shares, while market capitalization measures the value of all outstanding shares. Those are related but different financial figures.