Saudi Aramco became the world’s most valuable listed company after its 2019 public offering.
Saudi Aramco, officially Saudi Arabian Oil Company, began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, known as Tadawul, in December 2019. Its initial public offering valued the company at about $1.7 trillion, making it the largest initial public offering at the time by funds raised.
The company is Saudi Arabia’s national oil producer and is majority owned by the Saudi government. Its operations span exploration, crude-oil production, refining, chemicals, shipping, and marketing. Its enormous reserves and production capacity made it unusually valuable compared with most listed corporations.
Saudi Aramco’s listing was part of Saudi Vision 2030, an economic strategy intended to diversify the kingdom beyond oil. It is sometimes confused with a privately held national oil company, but its shares are publicly traded even though the government retains control.