Saudi Aramco was the world's most valuable publicly traded company immediately after its 2019 initial public offering.
Saudi Aramco is the national petroleum and natural-gas company of Saudi Arabia. Its history traces back to the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, formed in 1933 after an oil concession was granted by the Saudi government.
The company began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, in December 2019. The initial public offering sold a portion of the company to investors and raised about $25.6 billion, making it one of the largest IPOs ever recorded at the time.
Saudi Aramco's valuation is closely linked to oil prices, production expectations, reserves, and government policy. It is not the same as a private oil major such as ExxonMobil or Shell. The company remains majority-owned by the Saudi government, even though a portion of its shares is publicly traded.