Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s stock has seen some
strong momentum over the past month, which has investors and Wall Street debating once again when the company would be worth $1
trillion.
The concept of a trillion-dollar company seems hard to fathom, but there is already a company in the Middle East that is
actually valued at more than $2 trillion.
Aramco
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Aramco is a state-owned producer of petroleum. According to Bloomberg, the company pumps more crude than the top four publicly traded
oil companies combined.
Since Aramco is a private company that is controlled by a government not known for transparency and openness, its exact value is
hard to derive. Some estimates even peg the
giant to be worth as much as $10 trillion, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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The Possible IPO
However, the Saudi Arabian government plans to sell up to 5 percent of Aramco as early as next year in a potential public
offering. As part of the process of listing on an American or European exchange, an independent audit of the business is required,
including details of its reserves and production capacity.
The estimated size of the offering would be around $100 billion and will hold the record as the largest IPO by a large margin —
currently held by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA)'s $25 billion raise in 2014.
Bloomberg noted that the Saudi Arabian government would use the proceeds to create a sovereign wealth fund as part of a bold
initiative to radically transform the country's economy away from fossil fuels and create millions of new jobs in manufacturing,
tourism and other fields.
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