Cboe Global Markets, Inc. is a major global financial market infrastructure provider and exchange operator. Founded in 1973 as the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the company pioneered standardized listed options trading. Today, Cboe operates through several key business segments: Options, North American Equities, Europe and Asia Pacific, Futures, and Global FX. The Options segment is the company's largest revenue driver, anchored by its exclusive rights to list options on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and its proprietary Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) products. Beyond derivatives, Cboe provides extensive cash equities trading in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia, largely built upon its 2017 acquisition of Bats Global Markets and subsequent international expansions. The company also generates significant recurring revenue from its market data, analytics, and access services, recently unified under the Cboe Data Vantage umbrella. Cboe's business model benefits from a capital-light, highly cash-generative structure, with revenue driven by transaction fees, market data subscriptions, and exchange connectivity services. The firm competes globally with other major exchange operators such as CME Group, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Nasdaq, maintaining a strong competitive moat through its proprietary index products and robust technological infrastructure.
