Apple has been toppled as the world's most-valuable company. The iPhone maker has been dethroned by Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco after a record-breaking IPO. Apple, which was valued at around $1.2 trillion recently, was overtaken by Saudi Aramco that went public. Aramco surged 10% on its opening day and touched almost $1.9 trillion. The company's shares jumped 10% on first day of trading (December 11) publicly on Saudi Tadawul exchange.
The company raised $25.6 billion in its initial public offering, surpassing Alibaba's (went public in September 2014). Aramco's market valuation is more than that of other oil giants, including BP, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch, Shell and others.
Apple had been holding on to the top position since almost February this year, with rival Microsoft not far behind. Microsoft even displaced Apple briefly. Apple first surpassed $1 trillion in August last year. It became the first public company to reach $1 trillion valuation in August 2018.
Incidentally, Apple's market cap surged past the entire US energy sector's in November 2019 after it announced its quaterly results. The company closed November 14 with a $1.17 trillion market cap, consolidating its position as the world's most valuable public company. Its stock surged the company topped Wall Street's estimates for both revenue and profits, thanks to strong sales of its wearable products and online services.