v3.25.4
Equity
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Equity [Abstract]  
Equity Equity
Capital Stock
Two million shares of preferred stock, par value $1 per share, are authorized; none have been issued.
On January 14, 2026, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the dividends for 2026 to a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.97 per share.

 Year Ended December 31,
 202520242023
Annualized dividend rate 1
$3.84 $3.64 $3.60 
Dividends paid (in millions)$1,170 $1,134 $1,147 
1 The quarterly dividend rate was $0.96 per share for the year ended December 31 2025. The quarterly dividend rate was $0.91 per share for the year ended December 31 2024. The quarterly dividend rate was $0.90 per share for the year ended December 31 2023.

Stock Repurchases

On November 13, 2025, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of 30 million shares (the “2025 Repurchase Program”), which was approximately 10% of the total shares of our outstanding common stock at the time. On June 22, 2022, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of 30 million shares (the “2022 Repurchase Program”), which was approximately 9% of the total shares of our outstanding common stock at that time.
Our purchased shares may be used for general corporate purposes, including the issuance of shares for stock compensation plans and to offset the dilutive effect of the exercise of employee stock options. As of December 31, 2025, 30.0 million shares remained under the 2025 Repurchase Program and 2.7 million shares remained available under the 2022 Repurchase Program. Our 2025 Repurchase Program and 2022 Repurchase Program have no expiration date and purchases under these programs may be made from time to time on the open market and in private transactions, depending on market conditions.
We have entered into accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) agreements with financial institutions to initiate share repurchases of our common stock. Under an ASR agreement, we pay a specified amount to the financial institution and receive an initial delivery of shares. Upon settlement of the ASR agreement, the financial institution typically delivers additional shares. The total number of shares ultimately delivered, and therefore the average price paid per share, is determined at the end of the applicable purchase period of each ASR agreement based on the volume weighted-average share price, less a discount. We account for our ASR agreements as two transactions: a stock purchase transaction and a forward stock purchase contract. The shares delivered under the ASR agreements resulted in a reduction of outstanding shares used to determine our weighted average common shares outstanding for purposes of calculating basic and diluted earnings per share. The repurchased shares are held in Treasury. The forward stock purchase contracts are classified as equity instruments.

Effective January 1, 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has mandated a 1% excise tax on share repurchases. Excise tax obligations that result from the Company’s share repurchases are accounted for as a cost of the treasury stock transaction, and are included in other current liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. The amount recorded in other current liabilities was $46 million and $30 million as of December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. During the years ended December 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company made an excise tax payment of $30 million and $29 million, respectively, which is included in financing activities in the consolidated statement of cash flows.
The terms of each ASR agreement entered into for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, structured as outlined above, are as follows:
(in millions, except average price)
ASR Agreement Initiation DateASR Agreement Completion DateInitial Shares DeliveredAdditional Shares DeliveredTotal Number of Shares
Purchased		Average Price Paid Per ShareTotal Cash Utilized
December 4, 2025 1
4.0— 4.0$— $2,500 
August 12, 2025 2
October 23, 20251.70.6 2.3$513.82 $1,200 
May 6, 2025 3
August 8, 20251.00.2 1.2$518.47 $650 
February 19, 2025 4
May 6, 20251.00.3 1.3$491.12 $650 
October 28, 2024 5
February 18, 20252.30.3 2.6$500.95 $1,300 
July 31, 2024 6
October 22, 20242.60.3 3.0$505.19 $1,500 
February 12, 2024 7
April 12, 20241.00.2 1.2$421.05 $500 
November 13, 2023 8
February 7, 20242.80.2 3.0$428.45 $1,300 
August 7, 2023 9
September 8, 20231.10.2 1.3$387.36 $500 
May 8, 2023 10
August 4, 20232.50.1 2.6$384.75 $1,000 
February 13, 2023 11
May 5, 20231.10.3 1.4$341.95 $500 
1 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $2.5 billion and initially received shares valued at 80% of the $2.5 billion at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on December 5, 2025. The Company received an initial delivery of 4.0 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on February 3, 2026 and received an additional 0.8 million shares. We repurchased a total of 4.8 million shares under the ASR agreement for an average purchase price $519.39 per share. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
2 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $1.2 billion and initially received shares valued at 80% of the $1.2 billion at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on August 12, 2025. The Company received an initial delivery of 1.7 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on October 23, 2025 and received an additional 0.6 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
3 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $650 million and initially received shares valued at 80% of the $650 million at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on May 6, 2025. The Company received an initial delivery of 1.0 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on August 8, 2025 and received an additional 0.2 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
4 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $650 million and initially received shares valued at 80% of the $650 million at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on February 19, 2025. The Company received an initial delivery of 1.0 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on May 6, 2025 and received an additional 0.3 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
5 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $1.3 billion and initially received shares valued at 85% of the $1.3 billion at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on October 28, 2024 when the Company received an initial delivery of 2.3 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on February 18, 2025 and received an additional 0.3 million shares from the ASR program. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
6 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $1.5 billion and initially received shares valued at 85% of the $1.5 billion at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on July 31, 2024 when the Company received an initial delivery of 2.6 million shares from the ASR program on August 1, 2024. We completed the ASR agreement on October 22, 2024 and received an additional 0.3 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
7 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $500 million and initially received shares valued at 85% of the $500 million at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on February 12, 2024 when the Company received an initial delivery of 1.0 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on April 12, 2024 and received an additional 0.2 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
8 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $1.3 billion and initially received shares valued at 85% of the $1.3 billion at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on November 13, 2023 when the Company received an initial delivery of 2.8 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on February 7, 2024 and received an additional 0.2 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
9 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $500 million and initially received shares valued at 85% of the $500 million at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on August 7, 2023 when the Company received an initial delivery of 1.1 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on September 8, 2023 and received an additional 0.2 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
10 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $1 billion and initially received shares valued at 87.5% of the $1 billion at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on May 8, 2023 when the Company received an initial delivery of 2.5 million shares from the ASR program.We completed the ASR agreement on August 4, 2023 and received an additional 0.1 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program.
11 The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $500 million and initially received shares valued at 85% of the $500 million at a price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock on February 13, 2023 when the Company received an initial delivery of 1.1 million shares from the ASR program. We completed the ASR agreement on May 5, 2023 and received an additional 0.3 million shares. The ASR agreement was executed under our 2022 Repurchase Program..

During the year ended December 31, 2025, we received a total of 9.3 million shares, including 0.3 million shares received in February of 2025 related to our October 28, 2024 ASR agreement, resulting in $5.0 billion of cash used to purchase shares. During the year ended December 31, 2024 we received a total of 6.7 million shares, including 0.2 million shares received in February of 2024 related to our November 13, 2023 ASR agreement, resulting in $3.3 billion of cash used to purchase shares. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we received a total of 8.6 million shares, including 0.4 million shares received in February of 2023 related to our December 2, 2022 ASR agreement, resulting in $3.3 billion of cash used to purchase shares.

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests

Our redeemable noncontrolling interests include an agreement with the minority partners that own 27% of our S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC joint venture contains redemption features whereby interests held by minority partners are redeemable either (i) at the option of the holder or (ii) upon the occurrence of an event that is not solely within our control. Specifically, under the terms of the operating agreement of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, CME Group and CME Group Index Services LLC (“CGIS”) has the right at any time to sell, and we are obligated to buy, at least 20% of their share in S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. In addition, in the event there is a change of control of the Company, for the 15 days following a change in control, CME Group and CGIS will have the right to put their interest to us at the then fair value of CME Group’s and CGIS’ minority interest.

If interests were to be redeemed under this agreement, we would generally be required to purchase the interest at fair value on the date of redemption. This interest is presented on the consolidated balance sheets outside of equity under the caption “Redeemable noncontrolling interests” with an initial value based on fair value for the portion attributable to the net assets we acquired, and based on our historical cost for the portion attributable to our S&P Index business. We adjust the redeemable noncontrolling interest each reporting period to its estimated redemption value, but never less than its initial fair value, using both income and market valuation approaches. Our income and market valuation approaches may incorporate Level 3 fair value measures for instances when observable inputs are not available. The more significant judgmental assumptions used to estimate the value of the S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC joint venture include an estimated discount rate, a range of assumptions that form the basis of the expected future net cash flows (e.g., the revenue growth rates and operating margins), and a company specific beta. The significant judgmental assumptions used that incorporate market data, including the relative weighting of market observable information and the comparability of that information in our valuation models, are forward-looking and could be affected by future economic and market conditions. Any adjustments to the redemption value will impact retained income.

Noncontrolling interests that do not contain such redemption features are presented in equity.

Changes to redeemable noncontrolling interests during the year ended December 31, 2025 were as follows:
(in millions)
Balance as of December 31, 2024
$4,252 
Net income attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interests317 
Distributions to noncontrolling interests(301)
Redemption value adjustment614 
Other 1
35 
Balance as of December 31, 2025 2
$4,917 

1 Relates to foreign currency translation adjustments
2 As of December 31, 2025, $4,914 million relates to our redeemable noncontrolling interest in the Indices business
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The following table summarizes the changes in the components of accumulated other comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2025:

(in millions)Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments Pension and Postretirement Benefit Plans
Unrealized Gain (Loss)
on Cash Flow Hedges 3
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
Balance as of December 31, 2024
$(609)$(372)$98 $(883)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications202 1(18)(2)182 
Reclassifications from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to net earnings4 4 2(4)34 
Net other comprehensive income (loss) 206 (14)(6)186 
Balance as of December 31, 2025
$(403)$(386)$92 $(697)
1Includes an unrealized loss related to our cross currency swaps. See Note 6 – Derivative Instruments for additional detail of items recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss.
2Reflects amortization of net actuarial losses and is net of a tax benefit of less than $1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. See Note 7 — Employee Benefits for additional details of items reclassed from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net earnings.
3See Note 6 – Derivative Instruments for additional details of items reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net earnings.