How much would 5% of Saudi Aramco be worth?
Saudi Arabia may sell a stake in its crown jewel, but raise much less money than its deputy crown prince thinks
IN 2005, McKinsey said Aramco was worth about $0.781 trillion. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute recently pegged its value at around $2.1 trillion. The Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammad bin Salman put the number at $2.5 trillion. Mohammed al-Sabban, a Saudi former petroleum advisor, reckons even more - at least $10 trillion. But what is Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state-owned oil jewel, really worth? For decades that has been an academic question, at best. But then came the young prince’s interview with Bloomberg and, on 25 April, his announcement of plans to break Saudi Arabia’s oil "addiction", partly by selling off some of the state firm. Salman talks of plans for a $2 trillion sovere
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