An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance. Private companies decide to become public corporations for a number of reasons, but the most common is to raise money to grow the business. Private investors may have backed a company financially and want to get back the money they invested or to make a profit from the shares they hold, while a government may want to allow the public to invest in a state-owned business, such as a national telecom company. Some very lucky shareholders can make a boatload of money literally overnight.
There are two ways that a company can launch an initial public offering (IPO): by issuing new shares at a price that is determined by external financial experts using the overall value of the company or through a direct listing, by simply starting to sell existing shares that are already held by founders, employees and investors. After going public, companies often reinvest funds raised back into the business, expand operations, set up new divisions or buy smaller companies to improve their product range or profitability.
Here are the top 10 biggest IPOs in history.
Rank | Company | Date of IPO | IPO value |
1. | Saudi Aramco | December 5, 2019 | $25.6 billion |
2. | Alibaba Group Holding Limited | September 18, 2014 | $25 billion |
3. | SoftBank Group Corporation | December 10, 2018 | $21.35 billion |
4. | Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. | August 13, 2010 | $22.1 billion |
5. | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China | October 27, 2006 | $19.07 billion |
6. | NTT DoCoMo Inc. | October 22, 1998 | $18.1 billion |
7. | Visa Inc. | March 18, 2008 | $17.86 billion |
8. | AIA Group Limited | October 21, 2010 | $17.78 billion |
9. | Enel SpA | November 2, 1999 | $16.58 billion |
10. | May 1, 2012 | $16 billion |
