Good morning. Welcome to the Cboe Global Markets Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to introduce the first presenter, Will Farrow.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Cboe Global Markets Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I'm Will Farrow, Chairman of the Board, and would like to thank you for joining us. Similar to last year, we're conducting this meeting as a completely virtual annual meeting of stockholders. A copy of the agenda and rules of procedure have been posted on the web portal. The agenda is as follows. First, I'll introduce our Board of Directors and some of our key executives. Second, we will report on quorum and administrative matters. Third, we will vote on the proposals listed in the proxy statement. Fourth, Craig Donohue, our Chief Executive Officer, will update you on progress made at Cboe. Fifth, we will take questions from stockholders. Finally, we will report the preliminary voting results.
As is our custom, if you have a question about one of the proposals to be voted on, such question must be submitted in the field provided on the web portal at or before the time the proposals are before the meeting for consideration. After the conclusion of the business presentation, we will address appropriate general questions of stockholders regarding the company. To submit questions, please log in to as a stockholder by entering the 16-digit control number you received with your proxy material and submit questions in the field provided in the web portal during the meeting. You may also refer to the rules of procedure for this meeting regarding questions. Now, it is my privilege to introduce my fellow director nominees.
Craig Donohue, who is also our Chief Executive Officer, Ed Fitzpatrick, Ivan Fong, Janet Froetscher, Jill Goodman, Erin Mansfield, Cecilia Mao, Jennifer McPeek, Rick Palmore, Jamie Parisi, and Fred Tomczyk. Before introducing others in attendance today, on behalf of the board, I would also like to thank Alex Matturri, who did not stand for re-election as a Director at the annual meeting. I want to thank him for his dedication to service to Cboe. I will now introduce our other key senior executives who are in attendance. Jill Griebenow, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Pat Sexton, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. I'd also like to introduce our independent auditor, KPMG LLP, represented today by Anoopa Mahar and Noah Moravec. In addition, Richard Kretz, a representative from Broadridge, is serving as independent Inspector of Elections. I thank everyone for participating today.
Now let us proceed with the formal business of our meeting. Craig Donohue and Patrick Sexton have been appointed as proxies for the meeting. Will the corporate secretary now present the required formal documents and affirm that the meeting is fully convened for the transaction of business?
Thank you, Will. Thank you, Will. I have copies of the notice of meeting, the proxy statement, the company's 2025 annual report on Form 10-K, which includes the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, and the forms of proxy, together with affidavits of mailing. In addition, the board of directors adopted resolutions providing for the meeting to be held at this time and via live audio webcast and directing that notice be given. The board fixed March 19th, 2026 as the record date for determining persons entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting. Inspector of Elections has reported that more than 89% of the outstanding shares of the company's common stock as of the close of business on the record date are represented today virtually, in person, or by proxy.
Therefore, a quorum is present and the meeting is duly convened for purposes of transacting such business as may properly come before it. The web portal is open for comments on the proposals that will be described shortly. Comments on matters other than the proposals should be held for later in the meeting. If you have a question about one of the proposals to be voted on, such question must be submitted in the field provided in the web portal. You may also refer to the rules of procedure for this meeting regarding questions. Polls are also open for voting and will close following the introduction of and discussion. The voting is by proxy and online via the web portal used to access this meeting.
If you have already voted by mailing in proxies or by via, or via telephone or internet, you should not vote at this meeting unless you wish to revoke your prior proxy.
Thank you, Pat. We have four proposals on which stockholders are voting at this meeting. After the proposals have been introduced, we will respond to questions, if any, germane to the proposals being put to vote. Each matter being brought before this meeting is described in the proxy statement that has been mailed to stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting. On each matter, stockholders have one vote per share of common stock held as of close of business on March 19th, 2026. The first item of business for consideration by stockholders is the election of directors as described in the proxy statement. There are 12 director nominees to be voted on at this annual meeting.
The directors elected today will hold office until the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Our bylaws require advance notice to the company of a stockholder's intent to nominate persons as directors. No such notice was received, and accordingly, I declare the nominations for directors closed. The second item of business is a non-binding resolution to approve the compensation paid to our executive officers. The third item of business is the ratification of the appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our 2026 fiscal year. The fourth item of business is a stockholder proposal regarding the shareholder right to act by written consent.
Our board of directors recommends that the stockholders vote for the election of each director nominee and for each of the other proposals, except for the stockholder proposal in which the board of directors recommends that the stockholders vote against. The representatives of the stockholder proposal may now provide a brief statement to present their proposal. You have a limit of three minutes to present your proposal. Please proceed.
Hello, this is John Chevedden. Proposal 4, shareholder right to act by written consent. Shareholders request that the board of directors take the necessary steps to permit written consent by the shareholders entitled to vote the minimum number of shares that would be necessary to authorize an action at a meeting in which all shareholders entitled to vote thereon were present at voting. Shareholders acting by written consent and calling for a special shareholder meeting are two means that shareholders of a company can use to put forth a proposal on a timely basis without waiting for the annual shareholder meeting. A shareholder right to act by written consent is necessary to make up for the unattainable Cboe right to call for a special shareholder meeting that requires 25% of the shares outstanding.
Shareholders at more than 100 companies have voted on proposals for a shareholder right to call for a special shareholder meeting, but not even one of these 100 companies have ever given even one example of a special shareholder meeting ever taking place at any company anywhere that required the backing of 25% of shares outstanding. The 25% requirement seems to be unattainable based on historical experience. It is more important to have a right to act by written consent to make up for this. Please vote yes, shareholder right to act by written consent, proposal 4.
Thank you for your statement. As described in the proxy statement, management is recommending that stockholders vote against this stockholder proposal. Please refer to the proxy statement for further explanation. This concludes the introduction of proposals to be presented at the meeting.
There being no further discussion or questions, since all stockholders have had adequate time to vote, it is 8:09 and the polls are now closed. Now that we have addressed questions regarding the proposal, there is no further discussion, and since all shareholders have had adequate time to vote, 8:09, polls are closed.
While the preliminary proxies and online votes are being tabulated by the Inspector of Elections, Craig will report on Cboe's recent business developments. Following the presentation, we will take questions regarding Cboe, and there will be a preliminary report on the results of the elections. Additionally, the web portal is open for questions regarding Cboe. Any stockholder who would like to ask a question regarding Cboe should submit their question in the field provided in the web portal. In the interest of time, you have a limit of two questions per stockholder.
Welcome to the business update portion of the meeting. I'm Ken Hill, SVP of Finance and Treasurer at Cboe Global Markets. Before we begin, let me remind you that this presentation does contain some forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary. Please refer to our filings with the SEC for more detailed information about the risks and uncertainties. We will also be referring to non-GAAP statements, measures as defined and reconciled in our presentation materials. I will turn the call now over to Craig.
Thank you, Ken. Cboe delivered record net revenue of $2.4 billion, up 17% year-over-year, generating adjusted diluted EPS growth of 24% to $10.67 per share for 2025. The exceptional results were underpinned by double-digit net revenue growth in every major category at Cboe. Specifically, strong volumes in both our multi-listed and proprietary index option products drove the strength in the derivatives category, growing 22% in 2025. Cboe Data Vantage business grew 10% year-over-year in 2025 as new sales growth drove the upside, and robust industry volumes propelled our cash and spot markets 15% higher on a year-over-year basis. That momentum has continued into this year, with Cboe reporting record quarterly results for the first quarter of 2026.
More importantly, we continue to make progress on our strategy, and the decisive actions we've taken are moving the company closer to realizing its full potential. Following a thorough strategic review and the adoption of a more rigorous financial framework, we announced a strategic realignment to prioritize investment in the core businesses that drive our earnings. We acted quickly to reorient the company, including exiting non-core activities, optimizing resource allocation and initiating the sale of our Canadian and Australian businesses. Reaching a definitive agreement to sell both last month, these actions have strengthened performance in our core businesses, and they've sharpened our focus on new growth opportunities. Going forward, we are positioned to allocate more resources more effectively, including adding talent in emerging areas as we make greater investments in financial and economic event markets, tokenizing products, and further expanding our clearing services in both Europe and the U.S.
We will also strengthen our regional sales, marketing, and investor education to bring our most in-demand products, emerging innovations, and deep market expertise closer to our customers around the world, all driving long-term value for shareholders. I have never been more excited about the road ahead. Our success will require continued discipline, focus, and smart capital allocation.
This concludes our presentation. Welcome to the Q&A portion of the meeting. As previously mentioned, any stockholder who would like to ask a question regarding Cboe should submit their questions in the field provided in the web portal. If we receive substantially similar questions, we may group the questions together and provide a single response to avoid repetition. We do have two questions. I will group them together. The questions are, "Please advise Cboe response to Barclays trimmed their target for Cboe in March 2026, and UBS maintained a neutral stance, suggesting a significant portion of the growth and strength have already been reflected in the share price. Has the market already priced in future growth?
Well, I can't comment on, you know, two specific analyst reports around stock price. We have a universe of probably 15 to 20 analysts that cover the company. We continue to see very strong macroeconomic and very strong secular trends supporting growth across all of our core businesses. We also, as I said, continue to focus on optimizing our core business, and the board and management are very focused on delivering long-term shareholder value. We continue to look at ways to be innovative and to expand our business in new arenas such as event contracts, tokenizing different financial instruments, and expanding our clearing capabilities while also globalizing our business.
There being no further questions, we've completed the question and answer section of the meeting. Will the Corporate Secretary please report on the preliminary results of the election?
Thank you, Ken. The preliminary results from the Inspector of Elections indicate that more than 94% of the shares of the company's common stock cast on this matter have voted for each of the nominees named in the proxy statement. Each of the nominees has been elected to serve as a director. Congratulations. More than 92% of the shares of the company's common stock cast on this matter have voted in favor of the non-binding resolution to approve the compensation paid for executive officers. Stockholders have approved this resolution. More than 99% of the shares of the company's common stock represented at this meeting have voted in favor of the ratification of the appointment of KPMG as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2026 fiscal year. The appointment of KPMG is so ratified.
More than 57% of the shares of the company's common stock cast on this matter have voted in opposition to the stockholder proposal regarding shareholder right to act by written consent. Therefore, stockholders have rejected this proposal. Final voting results will be reported by the company on Form 8-K to be filed within four business days.
Thank you, Pat. This concludes our meeting, and the annual meeting is adjourned.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation and you may now disconnect.