Dear Fellow Shareholder:
S&P Global recorded excellent financial results last year and our prospects remain bright.
Last year’s corporate performance and the work our teams are doing to build a company with the greatest potential for growth allowed S&P Global to generate positive returns for you in 2023 despite a rising interest rate environment and geopolitical uncertainty. The company’s total shareholder return increased 33% versus 2022, outperforming the S&P 500 and our peer group.
The combination of dividends and share repurchases returned approximately $4.4 billion to shareholders in 2023 and approximately $21.8 billion over the past five years.
We are proud of that record and of the way the senior leadership team has continued to manage the company. Others have noticed the company’s performance, too. Institutional Investor named S&P Global to its 2023-24 All-America Executive Team. In addition, the Drucker Institute once again selected S&P Global as one of the 250 best-managed companies.
The talented people of S&P Global did a tremendous job last year and are off to a great start in 2024. The Board and I can’t thank them enough.
Every time the Board has an opportunity to meet with S&P Global’s people we come away impressed with their talent, professionalism, and enthusiasm. Last year, we were able to connect with many of them in New York. Over several hours at the Javits Center, the Board had a chance to demo S&P Global’s signature products, listen to engaging panel discussions with company leaders, and walk around to hear directly from the company’s analysts, researchers, marketers, and others. The conversations were engaging and enriching, and they underscored a healthy growth and innovative mindset. I wish we had more time to meet more of the 1,500 employees who attended.
This kind of event is not unique at our company. Over the last several years, the Board has met team members in major S&P Global hubs in Europe and Asia and in cities across the U.S. These meetings are essential to the Board’s ability to assess the company’s culture, which we view as critical to the company’s ability to execute its strategy. In addition, we meet regularly with members of the senior leadership team to discuss topics including divisional performance; training and development; succession planning; compensation and benefits; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and workplace health, safety, and well-being.
The people of our company are our greatest asset. Thanks to them, S&P Global continues to create value for you, our shareholders, and for all the company’s stakeholders.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Thornburgh
Chairman of the Board
Members of S&P Global’s Board of Directors speak with General Counsel Steve Kemps, left, about the importance of a strong culture at the company’s New York town hall in 2023.