Fortune Magazine Features

It was suppose to be the biggest public offering of all time, finally giving global investors a chance to make money on Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves. But now because of a mix of geopolitics and royal intrigue, the IPO of Saudi Aramco the national oil company of Saudi Arabia and by far the biggest energy company in the world may be the IPO that never. But we're getting ahead of ourselves let's go back to April 25th 2016. [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] This is deputy crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman. In April 2016, he unveiled his plan for the economic future of Saudi Arabia vision 2030. And while there's a lot that the country hopes to accomplish by 2030 most of these hopes yield on the country putting five percent of Saudi Aramco on the public market. That's right. When we said the IPO would be the largest in history, that's only with the company putting 5 % of itself up for sale. Wall Street analysts estimate Aramco's total market value is somewhere between 1 trillion and $ 1. 5 trillion. And 5 % of that would really help the country's economic outlook. [ MUSIC ] The crashing crude oil prices that started in 2013 has taken a toll on Saudi Arabia. Oil accounts for roughly 97 % of the country's export earnings. The sale of 5 % of Saudi [ UNKNOWN ] would offer a quick injection of revenue for the government to help diversify the economy. Right now, the country's economic future is entwined with oils. Vision 2030 is an attempt to change that But the IPO fought an uphill battle from the start. Saudi Aramco currently only has just one stakeholder, the Saudi king. Until now, the companies assets have been a black box and many suggest that the identification of a market value is not in the royals best interest. Saudi Arabia has maintained for decades that it has 260. 8 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves. But that number has never fluctuated, any changes would impact the valuation and maybe not favorably. And then there are problems for potential share holders It could be risky to take on only a portion of a 5 % minority stake in a company largely reporting to the needs of the Saudi government. But it seems as though an alternative to the IPO has gained momentum. The Financial Times report that the oil mermaid maybe considering a private share sell instead. The buyers analyst best bet is China. And the deal makes sense. Saudi Aramco wouldn't need to publicly reveal anything. And China would have a new tap. Saudi Aramco, for its part, still insists the IPO process remains on track. But will letting in the light with an IPO really be worth it? [ MUSIC ]

Unraveling the World's Largest IPO 

Energy

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest energy company, is headed for an IPO. But will the plan go off without a hitch?

Next to Lead featuring Fortune editor Ruth Umoh is a weekly vodcast series featuring a new generation of Fortune 500 leaders. Each week we talk to today’s most prominent C-suite executives who are shaping the future of business. Episodes will reveal what drives these executives, their vision for the future, and how to succeed in today’s hyper competitive landscape.

Next to Lead

ServiceNow president and CFO Gina Mastantuono grew up determined never to rely on anyone. Her first career move was cautious after a friend told her accounting was “recession proof.” A series of smart and calculated leaps turned that safe start into a rapid climb.

Today Mastantuono is paid to take big swings and deliver results. Under her financial leadership ServiceNow entered the Fortune 500 in 2023 and has remained on the list ever since.

For the first episode of Next to Lead Fortune executive editor Ruth Umoh explores how Mastantuono built a career that spans industries and continents from auditing at Ernst & Young to CFO roles at tech giant Ingram Micro and now ServiceNow. She explains how to recognize the right moment to switch industries, why technical expertise remains critical in the C-suite, and what rising leaders should know about seizing their next big opportunity.

ServiceNow’s CFO Gina Mastantuono on Taking Leaps, Building Teams, and Betting on AI

Leadership

Fortune 500 Titans and Disruptors of Industry

AI is rewriting the rules of business — and Accenture CEO Julie Sweet says reinvention is the only way Fortune 500s will survive. In the debut episode of Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry, Sweet sits down with Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell to reveal how she’s nearly doubled Accenture’s value, grown its workforce to 770,000, and kept the company thriving through disruption.

Julie Sweet’s Path From Lawyer to Leading 770,000 People

Term Sheet

Welcome to the Term Sheet podcast! In this new series, Allie Garfinkle adapts her newsletter in audio and video format, diving deeper into the latest news and insights on private equity, venture capital and startups. This weekly show will expand on the elements that made the newsletter an essential subscription for investors, with industry leaders guests and a roundup of the biggest funding news.

This week, Allie interviews Will Hurd, Chief Strategy Officer at CHAOS Industries. Together they discuss Will's background as a CIA officer, and a new era for defense, tech and DoD partnerships. Also in this episode: Figma's IPO and the deal of week: Ramp.

Figma IPO: What Investors Need to Know, and Understanding Defense Tech

Tech

The Crypto Playbook

Bitcoin is the cornerstone of the crypto industry thanks to its impeccable pedigree and bulletproof security. That’s been true ever since the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto published his vision for Bitcoin in 2008, but its role has changed over time. On the inaugural episode of Crypto Playbook, Jack Mallers, the renowned “Bitcoin maxi” helps break down its journey from an outlaw currency to $2 trillion Wall Street behemoth.

Bitcoin then and now

Fortune_Crypto

The incredible evolution of the original cryptocurrency

Leadership Next

She's the sixth managing partner in the firm's 100-year history.

Leadership Next: Edward Jones Managing Partner, Penny Pennington

Leadership Next: Edward Jones' Penny Pennington

I want to take this one off line because I need your advice. Welcome to Leadership next podcast about the changing rules of business leadership. I'm alan Murray and I'm Ellen McGirt. So what do you tell clients about how they should be thinking about crypto? Well, when we start from our investment philosophy, our investment philosophy is rooted in quality diversification and a long term orientation now could crypto be a part of each of those characterizations? Sure. So investing in those things is likely going to be a part of the investment portfolio um for clients some today and more going forward. However, we do not believe that speculation is a part of serious long term financial planning and there is part of the crypto market right now. That is pure speculation. We love investing in enduring companies that are governed and managed well that think about their the full panoply of their stakeholders. Good companies have been doing that for a long, long time. So we're we're proponents of that. We asked people to invest in that and that's how we see the endurance and the success of our company as well. You didn't put a lot of your clients into Gamestop when it was. Sorry, I guess so. Were 100 years old with the same name on the door. You don't get to be that without constantly listening and learning. I am simply a product of of that focus of that ethos of that culture and we've also built our leadership development around that at important points in time. We're very ex explicitly say what we mean by leadership. We took the opportunity to do that over the last couple of years and what characterizes good leadership for our company in the world that we live in today is to first be purpose driven. Next be human centered and third be courageous are we on the verge? Are we uh you know, a few quarters away from the next recession? Alan, we don't believe that the next recession is coming in 2022, and we don't believe that it's coming as a result of inflation or the Federal Reserve's response to inflation. We believe that the fundamentals in the economy right now are still fairly strong, so we don't believe that that recession is imminent. However, the business cycle is still out there and and investors need to have um pro appropriately tempered expectations right now and be getting good advice. Here's the plug, be getting good advice about where some of the right rotations are right now.