Here are 1-3 brief analogies to describe Intercontinental Exchange (ICE):

• Amazon for financial markets: ICE provides the marketplace and infrastructure for buying and selling a vast array of financial assets, similar to how Amazon facilitates commerce for goods.
• Visa for financial transactions: ICE operates the critical underlying technology and clearing houses that enable and process financial trades, much like Visa processes credit card transactions.
• Microsoft for financial market technology: ICE provides a wide range of essential technology and data services that power financial institutions and markets, from data analytics to mortgage origination platforms.

• Exchanges: Operates global marketplaces for trading various financial instruments, including equities, equity options, bonds, and derivatives across interest rates, commodities, and foreign exchange.
• Clearing Houses: Provides central counterparty clearing services for transactions executed on its exchanges and other venues, ensuring transaction integrity and mitigating counterparty risk.
• Data & Listing Services: Delivers comprehensive market data, analytics, valuation services, and indices, in addition to facilitating corporate listings for companies.
• Mortgage Technology: Offers an end-to-end digital platform that streamlines the mortgage origination process for lenders, encompassing loan application, processing, and closing.

Major Customers of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) primarily sells its services and products to other companies within the global financial ecosystem, rather than directly to individuals. Its major customers are institutional clients across various segments of the financial industry.

While ICE serves a vast number of institutions globally, its major customer categories and illustrative examples include:

• Investment Banks and Broker-Dealers: These firms are critical participants on ICE's exchanges for trading equities, fixed income, commodities, and derivatives. They also heavily utilize ICE's clearing services for transaction settlement and risk management, and subscribe to ICE Data Services for market information and analytics. Examples include:
  • JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
  • Goldman Sachs (GS)
  • Morgan Stanley (MS)
  • Bank of America (BAC)
  • Citigroup (C)
• Asset Managers and Institutional Investors: These institutions rely on ICE Data Services for a wide range of needs, including portfolio valuation, risk analysis, index solutions, and reference data. They also execute trades on ICE's various exchanges. Examples include:
  • BlackRock (BLK)
  • State Street Corporation (STT)
  • The Vanguard Group (private company)
  • Fidelity Investments (private company)
• Hedge Funds and Proprietary Trading Firms: These firms are significant users of ICE's trading platforms for high-volume, high-frequency execution across various asset classes, as well as leveraging ICE's data for strategic insights and analytics. (Specific firm names are typically not publicly disclosed as individual major customers by ICE, as revenue comes from a broad base of participants.)
• Corporations (for Listings and Data Services): Companies seeking to raise capital and have their shares traded publicly choose ICE's New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for listing. Additionally, many corporations subscribe to ICE Data Services for market intelligence, treasury management, and risk hedging. While thousands of companies are listed on NYSE, their primary relationship is with NYSE as a listing venue rather than a single major customer for transaction services.

Cisco Systems (CSCO)

Lumen Technologies (LUMN)

Dell Technologies (DELL)

Microsoft (MSFT)

Oracle Corporation (ORCL)

Jeffrey Sprecher, Chair & Chief Executive Officer

Jeffrey Sprecher is the Founder, Chair, and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). He started ICE in 2000 as an online marketplace for energy trading in Atlanta. In 1996, he acquired Continental Power Exchange from MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company for $1 plus the assumption of debt, which served as the foundation for ICE. Under his leadership, ICE has grown significantly through a series of acquisitions, including the International Petroleum Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, Creditex, The Clearing Corporation, the Climate Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange itself in 2013.

Warren Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer

Warren Gardiner has served as Chief Financial Officer of Intercontinental Exchange since May 2021. He is responsible for all aspects of ICE's finance and accounting functions, treasury, tax, audit and controls, sales operations, and investor relations. Before becoming CFO, he was ICE's Vice President of Investor Relations from July 2017 to May 2021. Prior to joining ICE in 2017, Gardiner was a research analyst covering Financial Information and Exchanges equities at Evercore ISI and an equity research analyst at Barclays Capital.

Benjamin Jackson, President

Ben Jackson is the President of Intercontinental Exchange. He oversees ICE's global technology, information security, operations, and coordinates global futures and OTC trading businesses. He also leads the integration planning and execution of ICE's acquisitions and joint ventures. Jackson joined ICE in July 2011 from SunGard, where he was Senior Executive Vice President, leading the company's energy and commodities business segment. Earlier, he was President of SunGard's Kiodex commodity risk management platform.

Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group & Chair, ICE Fixed Income & Data Services

Lynn Martin is the President of NYSE Group and Chair of Fixed Income & Data Services at Intercontinental Exchange. She became the 68th President of the New York Stock Exchange on January 3, 2022. Before this role, she was President of ICE's Fixed Income and Data Services. Her career at ICE and NYSE Group has included leadership positions such as Chief Operating Officer of ICE Clear U.S., CEO of NYSE Liffe U.S., and CEO of New York Portfolio Clearing. Martin began her career as a computer programmer at IBM.

Elizabeth King, Global Head of Clearing & Chief Regulatory Officer

Elizabeth King is the Global Head of Clearing and Chief Regulatory Officer at Intercontinental Exchange. In this role, she is responsible for all of ICE's clearing house operations and the global risk management team, as well as the company's global regulatory and government affairs strategies. Most recently, she served as President of Sustainable Finance, an ICE product initiative. Before joining ICE in March 2014, King was Deputy General Counsel and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at KCG Holdings, Inc. Prior to KCG, she was Associate Director, Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The emergence and growth of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms, particularly decentralized exchanges (DEXs), pose a clear emerging threat to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). ICE's core business model relies on its role as a centralized intermediary operating exchanges (like the NYSE) and clearing houses. DeFi platforms aim to disintermediate these traditional financial services by enabling peer-to-peer trading and other financial activities through smart contracts on blockchain networks, eliminating the need for central authorities. While currently predominantly focused on cryptocurrency assets, the underlying technology and architectural shift represent a fundamental challenge to ICE's business. As the tokenization of traditional assets gains traction and regulatory frameworks potentially evolve, the demonstrated ability of DEXs to facilitate trading without traditional intermediaries could directly compete with ICE's foundational services, offering potentially lower costs and increased transparency.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) operates across three primary segments: Exchanges, Fixed Income and Data Services, and Mortgage Technology. The addressable markets for these main products and services are substantial:

Exchanges

• The global Exchange industry generated revenues of approximately $57.9 billion in 2024.
• Global equity market capitalization reached $126.7 trillion in 2024.
• The New York Stock Exchange, owned by ICE, represented nearly 40% of the total world stock market value in March 2018, with a market capitalization of $23.12 trillion.
• The global futures and options markets saw record open interest exceeding 100 million contracts in February 2025, driven by increasing participation in commodity and energy derivatives.
• The foreign exchange market, where ICE facilitates trading, recorded an average daily turnover of $9.6 trillion in April 2025.

Fixed Income and Data Services

• The global fixed income market was valued at approximately $141.34 trillion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $166.81 trillion by 2030. The U.S. fixed income market alone accounts for over $51 trillion, representing 40% of the total global market. Other estimates place the global fixed income market at USD 145.26 trillion in 2024, expected to reach USD 153.39 trillion in 2025.
• The global Data as a Service (DaaS) market was valued at approximately USD 18.56 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach USD 228.80 billion by 2034, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 28.6%. North America dominated the DaaS market in 2024.
• The global Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) market was valued at USD 33.58 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD 178.84 billion by 2032, with North America holding a 47.97% share in 2023.

Mortgage Technology

• The global digital mortgage software market was valued at $3.7 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $35.3 billion by 2032. North America held the largest share of this market in 2022 and is expected to maintain its lead.
• The global mortgage technology market size reached USD 15.7 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to USD 46.7 billion by 2033.
• The global e-Mortgage market is anticipated to increase from US$12.1 billion in 2024 to US$62.1 billion by 2034. North America is projected to account for 31.5% of the global e-Mortgage market revenue by 2034.
• ICE's acquisition of Black Knight expanded its total addressable market in the mortgage space to $14 billion.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through several key areas, leveraging its diversified business model across exchanges, fixed income and data services, and mortgage technology.

1. Expansion and Digitization of Mortgage Technology: ICE's Mortgage Technology segment is poised for growth, significantly bolstered by the acquisition and integration of Black Knight. This integration aims to create a unified network offering end-to-end solutions for mortgage origination through settlement, enhancing workflow efficiencies and connecting various market participants. Furthermore, ICE is investing in and enhancing its Encompass digital lending platform's native product and pricing engine (ICE PPE) and growing its mortgage secondary market offerings. These efforts are designed to improve housing finance through digitization, providing essential technology and insights to navigate interest rate environments.
2. Growth in Fixed Income and Data Services: This segment is a consistent driver of recurring revenue for ICE. Expected growth will come from increased demand for pricing and reference data, as well as significant expansion in its index business. The index business specifically benefits from rising markets and the ongoing trend of fund flows into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that track ICE indices. ICE continues to invest in its data services to meet evolving customer needs, including those driven by regulatory changes, market fragmentation, and the increasing adoption of passive investing and indexation.
3. Strengthening Energy and Environmental Markets: ICE's Exchange segment demonstrates strong performance in its energy markets, including oil and natural gas, which have seen record revenues and growth in open interest. The company's global market reach and focus on innovation in these sectors contribute to this growth. Additionally, there is significant emphasis on the expansion of environmental markets, including cleaner energy sources, global natural gas, and environmental products. New product launches, such as Renewable Volume Obligation futures, further exemplify ICE's commitment to capitalizing on evolving market dynamics in this space.
4. Leveraging Global Exchanges and Listing Services: Beyond energy, ICE's exchange segment benefits from growth in its interest rate businesses and a strong performance in cash equities. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a subsidiary of ICE, continues to show leadership in transfers and welcomes new operating companies, contributing to the overall strength of this segment. ICE's broad array of futures, equity, and options exchanges, along with its clearing houses, helps customers invest, raise capital, and manage risk across various financial and commodity markets.

Share Repurchases

• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) repurchased $894 million of its common stock through the third quarter of 2025.
• The company anticipates resuming share repurchases in the first quarter of 2025.
• ICE has a $2.0 billion share repurchase authorization that became effective on January 1, 2019, with no specified end date.

Share Issuance

• Shares were issued as part of the consideration for strategic acquisitions, notably the Black Knight, Inc. acquisition in 2022, which was structured as a cash and stock transaction.

Outbound Investments

• In September 2023, ICE completed the acquisition of Black Knight, Inc., a software, data, and analytics company for the housing finance continuum, for a market value of $13.1 billion through a cash and stock transaction.
• ICE acquired Ellie Mae in 2020, significantly expanding its digital mortgage network and establishing an end-to-end mortgage origination platform.
• In January 2025, ICE acquired the American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic exchange for direct lending and borrowing for American financial institutions. Additionally, in October 2025, ICE announced an investment of up to $2 billion in Polymarket.