Saudi Aramco had the largest initial public offering in history when it listed in 2019.
Saudi Aramco raised about $25.6 billion in its December 2019 initial public offering, selling shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange, known as Tadawul. An additional share-allotment option later increased the amount raised to about $29.4 billion, preserving its record status under the commonly cited measure.
The company is formally known as Saudi Arabian Oil Company and is majority-owned by the government of Saudi Arabia. Its roots reach back to the concession granted to Standard Oil of California in 1933; Saudi Arabia gradually took control, completing nationalization in the 1980s.
Saudi Aramco’s enormous oil reserves, production capacity, and profitability have made it one of the world’s most valuable companies by market capitalization. IPO size and market capitalization are different: an IPO measures money raised from newly sold shares, while market cap values all publicly traded shares.