When a company decides to go public, it marks a pivotal moment in its evolution from private enterprise to publicly traded corporation. The initial public offering represents both a coming-of-age ceremony and a massive influx of capital. Over the past few decades, some of these debuts have been so enormous they’ve reshaped entire industries and captured the imagination of investors worldwide.
The crown jewel of all IPOs belongs to Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Arabian state oil company that went public in December 2019. This offering raised an astounding $25.6 billion, making it the largest IPO the world has ever seen. The company offered just a small fraction of its shares on the Tadawul, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, yet still managed to dwarf every other public offering in history. Saudi Aramco’s valuation at the time reached nearly $2 trillion, reflecting its position as one of the world’s most profitable companies and its control over vast oil reserves.
Coming in second place is the Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce titan founded by Jack Ma. When Alibaba listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, it raised $21.8 billion in its initial offering, with underwriters exercising their over-allotment option to bring the total to $25 billion. The company’s IPO captured global attention as investors rushed to gain exposure to China’s booming internet economy and middle class. Alibaba’s platform had already become integral to Chinese commerce, connecting millions of buyers and sellers, and its public debut represented a watershed moment for Chinese technology companies on the global stage.
The Agricultural Bank of China takes third place with its dual listing in 2010. The bank raised $19.2 billion through simultaneous listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai, making it the largest IPO at that time. As one of China’s “Big Four” state-owned commercial banks, the Agricultural Bank of China’s public offering reflected the country’s efforts to modernize its financial sector and attract international capital while maintaining state control over strategic financial institutions.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, raised $19 billion in 2006 through its own dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Like its counterpart, ICBC’s massive offering demonstrated China’s growing economic power and the appetite among global investors for exposure to Chinese financial institutions. The bank’s IPO was part of a broader wave of Chinese state-owned enterprise reforms aimed at improving governance and efficiency while tapping international capital markets.
American International Group, better known as AIG, raised $18.7 billion in 2006, though this figure reflects a different context than the others on this list. This was actually a secondary offering where the Chinese government sold down its stake in the insurance giant. The massive size of this transaction underscored AIG’s global reach and importance in the insurance industry, though the company would face severe difficulties just two years later during the financial crisis.Visa Inc., the payment processing giant, went public in March 2008 with an offering that raised $17.9 billion. The timing proved fortuitous, as Visa completed its IPO just months before the financial crisis would have made such a large offering nearly impossible. The company’s dominance in credit and debit card processing, combined with the secular shift toward electronic payments, made it an attractive investment despite the gathering economic storm clouds.
General Motors returned to public markets in November 2010 with an IPO that raised $15.8 billion, marking one of the most dramatic corporate comebacks in American history. The automaker had filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 and received a government bailout during the financial crisis. Its successful return to public trading symbolized both the company’s restructuring efforts and the beginning of the American auto industry’s recovery.
Facebook, now known as Meta, made its highly anticipated public debut in May 2012, raising $16 billion in an offering that valued the social network at over $100 billion. The IPO was one of the most hyped in technology history, as Facebook had already become a cultural phenomenon with hundreds of millions of users worldwide. While the stock initially stumbled after its debut, suffering from technical glitches and concerns about mobile advertising revenue, Facebook would go on to justify and exceed its initial valuation many times over.Softbank Corp., the Japanese telecommunications unit of SoftBank Group, raised $21.3 billion in its December 2018 IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This offering allowed SoftBank Group to raise capital while maintaining control over its telecom operations in Japan. The funds helped support SoftBank Group’s ambitious technology investment strategy through its Vision Fund, which had become one of the world’s largest technology investors.
NTT Mobile Communications Network, which later became NTT DoCoMo, raised $18.1 billion in 1998 when it went public in Japan. At the time, this was the largest IPO in history, reflecting the explosive growth of mobile telecommunications and Japan’s position at the forefront of mobile technology. DoCoMo had pioneered mobile internet services and was seen as a model for the future of wireless communications.
These mega-IPOs share several common threads. Many involve state-owned enterprises from China, reflecting that country’s unique approach to modernizing its economy while maintaining government control over strategic sectors. Others represent companies that had achieved dominant positions in their industries, whether in technology, finance, or telecommunications. The sheer scale of these offerings demonstrates the enormous amounts of capital required to fuel growth in capital-intensive industries or to provide liquidity for existing shareholders.
The geographic distribution also tells a story about shifting economic power, with Chinese companies featuring prominently alongside American and Middle Eastern enterprises. These IPOs represent not just financial transactions but pivotal moments in corporate and economic history, marking the transition of private empires into public companies accountable to shareholders around the world.