Factbox: From Saudi Aramco to Alibaba: World's biggest IPOs

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01/04/2026 17:06

Changes sourcing in paragraph 1

April 1 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX has taken a key step toward going public with a confidential filing, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, which could rank among the largest IPOs ever and puts the spotlight back on the biggest listings globally.

If SpaceX raises more than $50 billion, as media reports  suggest, it would eclipse the world's largest IPO to date, oil major Saudi Aramco's listing in 2019.

Analysts expect the potential landmark listing to reinvigorate the IPO market and push more high-profile private startups such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and rival Anthropic to the public markets, ending a years-long downturn.

Here is an overview of the biggest IPOs globally, ranked by deal size:

Company
Offer date
Sector
Deal size
Saudi Aramco 2223.SE
12/05/19
Energy
$25.6 billion
Alibaba 9988.HK
09/18/14
Technology
$21.8 billion
SoftBank Corp 9984.T
12/10/18
Communication Services
$21.3 billion
NTT Mobile 9432.T
10/22/98
Communication Services
$18.1 billion
Visa V.N
03/18/08
Financials
$17.9 billion
AIA 1299.HK
10/21/10
Financials
$17.8 billion
ENEL SpA ENEI.MI
11/01/99
Utilities
$16.5 billion
Meta META.O
05/17/12
Technology
$16 billion
General Motors GM.N
11/17/10
Consumer Discretionary
$15.8 billion
ICBC - H 1398.HK
10/20/06
Financials
$13.96 billion

 Source: Renaissance Capital

 (Compiled by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Krishna Chandra Eluri)

 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com; X: manya__saini;))