S&P Global Inc.

S&P Global traces its roots to 1860, when Henry Varnum Poor published an early guide to U.S. railroad and canal companies. The modern company expanded through Standard & Poor’s, Platts, acquisitions including IHS Markit, and the 2022 merger with IHS Markit.

The firm provides credit ratings, market intelligence, financial data, benchmarks, commodity and energy information, mobility data, and indices. Its five reportable segments are Market Intelligence, Ratings, Energy, Mobility, and Indices; its best-known products include S&P Global Ratings and the S&P 500.

S&P Global is especially strong where financial markets depend on standardized information: assessing credit risk, pricing securities, comparing companies and economies, tracking market performance, and analyzing energy and supply-chain markets. For students, it is closer to financial-market infrastructure and data than to a conventional investment bank.