Intercontinental Exchange

In May 2000, Jeffrey Sprecher launched Intercontinental Exchange from a small office with a simple idea: use the internet to make energy trading more transparent. Backed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BP, and Shell, ICE's electronic platform went live that same month. The name reflected its borderless ambition, a web-based marketplace that could connect buyers and sellers across continents.

ICE went public in 2005. Then came a string of acquisitions that reshaped global finance. In 2007, it bought the New York Board of Trade. The big one hit in 2013: a $8.2 billion deal for NYSE Euronext, giving ICE ownership of the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by market cap. By 2020, ICE had moved into mortgage technology with the $11 billion purchase of Ellie Mae. Three years later, it added Black Knight for $11.9 billion, creating ICE Mortgage Technology.

Today, ICE operates 13 regulated exchanges and six clearing houses across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Singapore. Its three divisions, Exchanges (55% of net revenue), Fixed Income and Data Services (24%), and Mortgage Technology (21%), generated $11.76 billion in revenue in 2024. The company also holds stakes in Bakkt, the Options Clearing Corporation, and Polymarket. More than 70 countries transact in ICE's markets. [edit]