For nearly seven years, the largest IPO in history belonged to an oil company.
Not just any oil company. Saudi Aramco, the crown jewel of the world’s largest crude exporter, raised $29.4 billion in its 2019 market debut, cementing what many viewed as the ultimate victory lap for the petroleum age.
That record appears set to fall today.
SpaceX is expected to price what will likely become the largest IPO ever, raising roughly $75 billion and surpassing Aramco’s long-standing mark. The offering has reportedly attracted more than $70 billion in retail orders alone and is already heavily oversubscribed.
The company that quite literally fuels the global economy is handing the IPO crown to the company trying to leave the planet.
At first glance, it looks like a story about oil giving way to technology. A passing of the torch from hydrocarbons to rockets, satellites, and artificial intelligence.
The reality is more complicated.
Aramco remains one of the most profitable companies on Earth. Oil still powers the overwhelming majority of global transportation. The modern economy continues to run on hydrocarbons. Facts.
And SpaceX itself is hardly separate from the energy business. Rockets burn fuel. Satellite networks require massive infrastructure. Data centers supporting AI consume enormous amounts of electricity. The future may look different, but it still runs on energy.
What has changed is what investors are willing to pay for.
Aramco’s IPO was built on proven reserves, predictable cash flow, and a commodity the world already understood. SpaceX is built on growth, optionality, and a long list of possibilities that range from satellite communications to artificial intelligence to vacationing on Mars.
One company represents the industry that built the modern world. The other represents a bet on what comes next.
That’s what makes today’s milestone noteworthy. The market is placing a premium on the future over the present.
When the closing bell rings, the largest IPO in history will no longer belong to the company that pumps the world’s most important commodity. It will belong to the company that convinced investors the next frontier is somewhere beyond it.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Another Gulf Producer Joins Dark-Mode Tanker Traffic Through Hormuz
- Sanctioned Private Chinese Refiner Seeks Non-Iranian Crude
- OPEC Oil Production Falls to Lowest Level Since 2000
