Wall Street

The biggest American IPOs of all time

CNBC.com staff@CNBC
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Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba just announced the largest initial public offering of all time on an American exchange. Here is a look at the other grand entrances onto Wall Street, based on data from Renaissance Capital.

—By Robert Ferris
First published 05 Sept 2014

5. General Motors

GM CEO Dan Akerson rings the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange as the automaker returns to the U.S. stock market on November 18, 2010
Getty Images

American automaker General Motors rejoined the New York Stock Exchange on November 17, 2010 with a $15.8 billion offering. The deal was underwritten by Morgan Stanley.

4. Facebook

Scott Eelis | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The social media company listed on NASDAQ in May of 2012 for more than $16 billion. Morgan Stanley was Facebook's primary underwriter.

3. ENEL SpA

An employee wears a safety harness and hard hat as he works on the top of a wind turbine unit manufactured by Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA and operated by Enel Green Power SpA, the clean-energy unit of Italy's biggest utility Enel SpA at their wind farm in Frosolone, Italy, on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
Alessia Pierdomenico | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Italian green energy giant Enel listed on NYSE at $16.4 billion in late 1999, with the help of Merrill Lynch.

2. VISA

Getty Images

Credit card giant Visa's $17.8 billion offering was underwritten by JP Morgan in 2008.

1. Alibaba

Employees work at Alibaba headquarters in Hangzhou, China.
Nelson Ching | Bloomberg | Getty Images

At up to $24.3 billion in stock, the Chinese e-commerce company is the biggest IPO on an American exchange in history, underwritten by firms including Credit Suisse.