Is Nasdaq a subsidiary of another company?

No. Nasdaq, Inc. is an independent public corporation with no parent. It was created by the National Association of Securities Dealers but has been fully independent since the mid-2000s and is owned by public shareholders.

When was Nasdaq founded?

The Nasdaq Stock Market began operations on February 8, 1971, as the first electronic stock market. The for-profit corporate entity formed through demutualization in 2000 and 2001 and rebranded as Nasdaq, Inc. in 2015.

The exchange was created by the National Association of Securities Dealers, the U.S. broker-dealer self-regulator, rather than by individual founders. Gordon Macklin, NASD's president, is most associated with its launch and early development.

What is Nasdaq's market position?

Nasdaq operates the second-largest stock exchange in the world by listed company market capitalization and is a top financial technology vendor. It reported net revenue of $5.2 billion and net income of $1.8 billion for fiscal 2025, with every global systemically important bank counted as a client.

Has Nasdaq had any controversies?

Yes. The 2012 Facebook IPO failure produced a record $10 million SEC fine. The exchange has paid other regulatory penalties over fee and listing matters, and its board diversity listing rule was struck down by a federal appeals court in December 2024.

Finance & Fintech

Who Owns Nasdaq?

Q: Is Nasdaq publicly traded?

Yes. Nasdaq, Inc. trades on its own exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market, under ticker NDAQ. It is a component of the S&P 500 index.

Nasdaq is the flagship brand of Nasdaq, Inc., a publicly traded financial technology and exchange operator listed on its own stock exchange under ticker NDAQ. The company launched the Nasdaq Stock Market in 1971 as the world's first electronic stock market and is headquartered in New York City. It reported net revenue of $5.2 billion for fiscal year 2025.

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Parent Company

Nasdaq, Inc.

Founded

1971

Status

Publicly Traded

Headquarters

New York, New York, USA

premiumGlobalOfficial Website

Who Owns Nasdaq?

Parent Company: Nasdaq, Inc.
Ownership Type: Brand division
Company Type: Publicly Traded
Stock Ticker: NASDAQ: NDAQ

Brand	Parent Company	Ownership Type
Nasdaq	Nasdaq, Inc.	Brand division

History of Nasdaq

Founded: 1971
Founders: National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD)

The Nasdaq Stock Market began trading on February 8, 1971, created by the National Association of Securities Dealers as the world's first electronic quotation system for securities. Rather than a trading floor, it linked market makers by computer and telephone, displaying bid and ask prices for over-the-counter stocks. The acronym originally stood for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations.

Through the 1980s and 1990s Nasdaq attracted technology companies that found the New York Stock Exchange's listing requirements and auction model less hospitable. Microsoft listed in 1986, Apple in 1980, and Intel in 1971. The dot-com boom made the Nasdaq Composite the defining index of the era, peaking above 5,000 in March 2000 before the crash erased nearly 80 percent of its value by 2002.

Nasdaq demutualized beginning in 2000, selling shares to become a for-profit public company and listing on its own exchange. Acquisitions built its scale: it bought the Philadelphia and Boston exchanges, acquired electronic trading platform Inet in 2005, and merged with Nordic exchange operator OMX in a 2008 deal valued at roughly $3.7 billion that created NASDAQ OMX. The company rebranded to Nasdaq, Inc. in 2015.

The following decade repositioned the company from exchange operator to financial technology vendor. It bought market surveillance and compliance software firms, paid approximately $2.75 billion for anti-financial-crime provider Verafin in 2021, and completed its largest deal in 2023 with the roughly $10.5 billion acquisition of Adenza, a risk management and regulatory software company. A 2023 reorganization grouped the business into three divisions: Market Services, Capital Access Platforms, and Financial Technology.

Fiscal 2025 was a record year. Net revenue reached $5.249 billion, up 13 percent, with GAAP net income of $1.788 billion and diluted EPS of $3.09. Solutions revenue surpassed $4 billion for the first time, and the company recorded a record $1.2 trillion in listing transfers onto its exchanges.

About Nasdaq, Inc.

What does Nasdaq, Inc. own?

The company owns the Nasdaq Stock Market and related U.S. exchanges, the Nasdaq Nordic and Baltic exchange groups, the Nasdaq index franchise, the Verafin and Adenza software businesses, and Nasdaq Private Market. It operates technology used by more than 130 external market operators.

Is Nasdaq publicly traded?

Yes. Nasdaq, Inc. trades on its own exchange under ticker NDAQ and is a member of the S&P 500. It demutualized from the National Association of Securities Dealers through share sales beginning in 2000.

Who founded Nasdaq?

The exchange was created by the National Association of Securities Dealers, the broker-dealer self-regulator, rather than individual founders. Gordon Macklin, NASD's president, is most associated with its 1971 launch.

Where is Nasdaq headquartered?

The company is headquartered at 151 West 42nd Street in New York City, the Times Square tower with the cylindrical Nasdaq video display. Trading infrastructure runs from data centers elsewhere.

How many brands does Nasdaq own?

It operates one master brand across roughly a dozen markets and business lines: the U.S. and European exchanges, Nasdaq Indexes, Verafin, Adenza, and Nasdaq Private Market.