S&P Global

In 1860, Henry Varnum Poor published a history of U.S. railroads and canals. Poor’s Publishing issued its first credit rating in 1916, and Standard Statistics followed in 1922. In 1909, Warren C. Platt began publishing National Petroleum News. Standard Statistics and Poor’s Publishing merged in 1941 to form Standard & Poor’s, which created the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry in 1957.⁠[1]

James H. McGraw and John A. Hill were publishers of industrial magazines. In 1909 they merged their book departments, and a coin toss decided the name of the new McGraw-Hill Book Company, with Hill as president. After Hill’s death, a fuller merger in 1917 formed the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.⁠[2]

The current listed company was incorporated in December 1925 under New York law.⁠[3]

McGraw-Hill stock was first traded publicly in 1929.⁠[4]

Around 1953, McGraw-Hill bought the National Petroleum Publishing Company, the W.C. Platt Company and Platt’s Price Service from Warren C. Platt.⁠[4]

In 1966, Standard & Poor’s joined McGraw-Hill.⁠[1]

Harold “Terry” McGraw III, great-grandson of founder James H. McGraw, became president in 1993 and chief executive officer in April 1998.⁠[4]

On July 2, 2012, McGraw-Hill and CME GroupCME GroupCME Group is a Chicago-based derivatives exchange group that owns four exchanges, CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX, and the CME Clearing clearing house, and also runs cash trading platforms including BrokerTec and EBS. Its origins go back to the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, formed in 1898; it became the first publicly traded exchange in the United States in 2002 and took its current name after merging with the Chicago Board of Trade in 2007.Open the full entry announced the launch of the index joint venture S&P Dow Jones Indices. McGraw-Hill owned 73 percent, CME Group 24.4 percent through its affiliates, and Dow Jones & Company indirectly 2.6 percent.⁠[5]

On March 22, 2013, The McGraw-Hill Companies completed the sale of McGraw-Hill Education to ApolloApolloApollo (Apollo Global Management, Inc.) is an asset management and retirement services group founded in 1990 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker APO. Its investment business spans credit, equity, and real assets; after its 2022 merger with Athene, asset management and retirement services were brought under the same listed parent company. At the end of June 2026, the group reported assets under management of about $1.047 trillion.Open the full entry for $2.4 billion in cash. Harold McGraw III said, “We have successfully completed our Growth and Value Plan.”⁠[6]

On May 1, 2013, shareholders approved renaming the company McGraw Hill Financial, and its New York Stock Exchange ticker changed to MHFI on May 14. It retained businesses including Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts and J.D. Power & Associates.⁠[7]

Douglas L. Peterson joined the company in 2011 and became CEO in 2013.⁠[8]

On January 21, 2015, Standard & Poor’s agreed to pay more than $77 million to settle with the SEC, New York and Massachusetts. The SEC found that it loosened its standards in 2011 and 2012 to win business, and its ratings division took a one-year “time out” from rating certain mortgage-backed securities. It neither admitted nor denied the charges.⁠[9]

On February 3, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle a lawsuit the Justice Department filed in February 2013. The suit alleged that S&P falsely represented its ratings as objective and uninfluenced by its relationships with investment banks. Parent McGraw Hill Financial said the settlement contained no findings of violations of law.⁠[10]

The settlement resolved several lawsuits by the Justice Department, the states and the District of Columbia over ratings of residential mortgage-backed securities, with half paid to the Justice Department. McGraw Hill reached a separate $125 million settlement with CalPERS over ratings of three structured investment vehicles.⁠[11]

McGraw Hill Financial completed its acquisition of SNL Financial LC on September 1, 2015, for approximately $2.225 billion in cash, subject to post-closing adjustment.⁠[12]

Following a shareholder vote at its annual meeting, McGraw Hill Financial was renamed S&P Global Inc., and its ticker changed from MHFI to SPGI effective April 28, 2016. Its businesses were S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts.⁠[13]

On September 7, 2016, S&P Global completed the sale of J.D. Power to XIO Group for $1.1 billion and announced a $750 million accelerated share repurchase.⁠[14]

In February 2018, Market Intelligence acquired the supply-chain data company Panjiva. In April, S&P Global acquired Kensho, a provider of analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, for about $550 million net of cash acquired, in cash and stock. In June, Market Intelligence acquired RateWatch, a provider of bank deposit, loan and fee data.⁠[15]

In January 2019, S&P Global Ratings won approval to become the first foreign firm to conduct a ratings business on its own on the Chinese mainland.⁠[16]

On February 28, 2022, S&P Global and IHS Markit announced the completion of their merger, valued at approximately $140 billion based on enterprise value. IHS Markit’s OPIS, Coal, Metals and Mining, and PetrochemWire businesses were sold to News Corporation.⁠[17]

On June 27, 2024, S&P Global announced that Martina L. Cheung, president of S&P Global Ratings, would succeed Douglas L. Peterson as president and CEO effective November 1, 2024, with Peterson serving as a special advisor through 2025.⁠[8]

Full-year 2025 revenue was $15.336 billion, up 8 percent, and GAAP net income attributable to S&P Global was $4.471 billion, up 16 percent, with GAAP diluted earnings per share of $14.66. The company returned $6.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.⁠[18]

On July 1, 2026, S&P Global completed the separation of its Mobility division into an independent public company, Mobility Global Inc. President and CEO Martina Cheung said, “Together, we have built a strong foundation for Mobility Global as an independent company.”⁠[19]

Shareholders received one Mobility Global share for every S&P Global share held on the June 15, 2026 record date, and Mobility Global trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MBGL.⁠[20]

After the separation, S&P Global retained no ownership interest in Mobility Global.⁠[21]