Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The 2016 annual meeting of the stockholders of Nasdaq, Inc. is hereby convened and called to order. My name is Börje Ekholm, Chairman of the Nasdaq Board and Chairman of this meeting. On behalf of the directors of Nasdaq, welcome to the Nasdaq annual meeting of shareholders. I'm pleased to introduce to you the individuals at the head table. We have our CEO, Bob Greifeld; Adena Friedman, President and Chief Operating Officer; Edward Knight, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Regulatory Officer. We have Ronald Hassen, Interim Chief Financial Officer, and to the far right, Hans-Ole Jochumsen, President, Global Trading and Market Services. Members of the Nasdaq Board and executive management are also in attendance at this meeting. Representatives from Ernst & Young, the company's independent auditor, and from Broadridge Financial Solutions, the Inspector of Election, are also in attendance.
The representatives from Ernst & Young are available to answer any questions you may have during the Q&A session. We have seen an exciting year indeed, but more importantly, we have seen how Nasdaq has managed through these changing conditions. Over the past year, or past years I would say, our focus on resilience and innovation have brought about a stronger Nasdaq than ever before. Last year, our total return to shareholders was 23%, significantly outpacing the S&P 500. Basis for our performance is, of course, the operating progress. We saw a 5% increase in EBITDA and an 8% increase in earnings per share. Nasdaq has very strong cash conversion. Our capital allocation is disciplined in focusing on the return on investments. We use our cash flow to invest in organic and inorganic opportunities.
We know that not all will succeed, but we strongly believe that the long-term value creation for our shareholders will be very good. What we cannot invest in at an attractive return, we will of course distribute to our shareholders. Let me now describe some of our progress. We saw a successful launch of a new futures market, Nasdaq Futures or NFX, with over 10 million contracts traded in its first eight months. NFX is built upon the Nasdaq trading infrastructure as well as the knowledge of our partners to create an efficient and robust market for the entire life cycle of a trade. In technology solutions, we helped power the simultaneous launch of nine technology systems to power equity trading, settlement, and clearing at Borsa İstanbul.
This is just one of many examples of how Nasdaq is using its technology to help clients transform the capital markets environment and to help countries around the world achieve economic wellbeing and strengthening the financial infrastructure. Nasdaq has successfully launched Nasdaq IR Insight, a client-centric solution that reshapes workflow and productivity through an integrated set of solutions, providing greater market intelligence and insights at a highly accessible level. Last year, we also acquired Dorsey, Wright & Associates, a leading provider of smart beta indices, which will continue to be a leader in one of the most dynamic segments of the market. As a market innovator, smart and entrepreneurial talent is fundamental to our success. Our brand is built every day by the positive interactions clients have with our people, products, technologies, and services.
Over the last several years, we've taken significant steps to invest more heavily in the people, and we have achieved a healthy equilibrium of retaining a strong institutional knowledge base and attracting new talent, new skill sets, and ideas. Nasdaq strikes a strong balance between innovation for the future and delivery of consistent returns. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the brilliant people in Nasdaq, under the leadership of Bob Greifeld, who work tirelessly to enhance the value of our offerings. I have no doubt that this year's growth and innovation will trend well into the future. I will proceed with the meeting formalities. I will ask Mr. Knight, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Regulatory Officer, to make the report of the General Counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I present by affidavit that notice of the meeting has been duly given and that a notice of internet availability of proxy materials has been mailed on or about May 24th, 2016, to every stockholder of record as of March 7th, 2016. As of March 7th, record date, there were 164,370,961 shares of Nasdaq common stock outstanding, subject to the voting limitation in our certificate of incorporation that generally prohibits a holder from holding in excess of 5% of the total voting power of Nasdaq. I also report that the board of directors has appointed Broadridge Financial Solutions to act as the inspector of this election at this meeting, and any adjournments hereof, and to count and examine all votes.
The inspector of election has filed with me an oath of inspector and a report of inspector that a quorum is present at this meeting, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Knight. There being a quorum present, we will proceed with the business of the annual meeting. As you entered the room, you should have received an agenda and a set of meeting rules which will govern this meeting. As the agenda notes, there are four matters for consideration by the stockholders. No other business will be presented at this meeting, although time has been set aside for a Q&A session at the end. If there are any stockholders or proxy holders present who have completed proxies and have not delivered them, please do so at this time. Stockholders may deliver their proxies to the table marked, "Inspector of Elections." Now, I'd like to call upon Bob Greifeld to provide a few remarks at this time.
Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning, everyone. We are here today to reinforce our commitment to Nasdaq's mission, and this year's performance reaffirms our relentless focus on our clients and our shareholders. We remain confident in our ability to execute on our vision for the future. One of the greatest drivers behind Nasdaq's success is that we have always sat at the leading edge of innovation and advancement. Nearly 50 years ago, Nasdaq started the fintech revolution. We were the first electronic platform to display quotes for securities not listed on national exchanges. Ever since, Nasdaq has been defined by an ambition to change, a desire to grow, and to certainly lead in an innovative fashion. Indeed, Nasdaq has in fact witnessed a tremendous evolution from a small U.S. equities exchange to a leading global fintech franchise.
Our $2 billion in net revenue, more than $580 million in non-GAAP net income, and one of the most diversified portfolios in our industry, stands as remarkable benchmarks of our progress. Over the last 13 years, Nasdaq's market capitalization has increased from $440 million to well over $10 billion. Truly an outstanding acknowledgment from our clients, and our financial performance is a reflection of a relentless focus on technology and a long-term strategy to invest in our clients' future needs. At Nasdaq, we have an ongoing internal dialogue about the future and our ambition to lead change. On behalf of this change, we lead on behalf of our clients and the markets we serve. It is in this regard, I am confident that our future rests squarely in the continued advancement, development, and innovation of financial technology.
Our efforts with blockchain technology and machine intelligence are the prime examples of how we are embracing new concepts to help serve our clients' needs. In December 2015, we successfully launched the initial release of Nasdaq Linq, our blockchain technology platform. We recorded our first private security transaction using this very promising technology. In October 2015, we also announced that we are pursuing additional applications of blockchain technology, such as proxy voting in Estonia. We are currently exploring other use cases and ways for us to lever this exciting technology in both our internal systems and commercial offerings across our enterprise. Machine intelligence is another area where we are using investments to explore the possibility for software to refine markets and financial systems. The speed, complexity, and vast amounts of raw data our own systems process every day is nothing short of mind-boggling.
Moreover, it is estimated that in 2020, data production will be 44 times that of what it was in 2009. Even more amazing, it's estimated that 85% of Fortune 500 companies will not gain a competitive advantage from the data they gathered through the use of traditional business intelligent tools. We intend to be in the 15%. The ability for machines to learn patterns and make intelligent decisions has far-reaching implications for vastly improving areas like market surveillance, indexing, data products, and market operations. Technologies like these, and others, have a long-term capability to reshape the capital markets ecosystem. Nasdaq has always been an innovator, and we intend to be at the center of this transformation now and in the future. Over the last three years, we have invested in excess of $100 million in R&D efforts while returning just shy of an astonishing $900 million to our shareholders.
Since I joined Nasdaq, I've never seen our strategic focus more intensely aligned to what this organization needs to deliver to our customers. We are in a position to capitalize in the future based upon the investments we're making today. Over the next decade, Nasdaq will continue to concentrate and leverage the assets and the expertise of our core franchises. This has allowed us to really become the fintech leader in the marketplace. I am confident that we will experience an equally positive journey in the months and the years to come that will continue to deliver benefits for all of our stakeholders. I thank you for your time today and for your continuous support.
Thank you, Mr. Greifeld. We can now proceed with the matters described in the proxy statements, specifically under Proposal One, stockholders are requested to approve the director nominees for a one-year term. The names and bios of the 10 nominees for election as director are detailed in the proxy under Proposal One. Under Proposal Two, stockholders are requested to approve the company's executive compensation on an advisory basis. Under Proposal Three, stockholders are requested to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as Nasdaq's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. Proposal Four is to consider the stockholder proposal entitled Shareholder Proxy Access. Mr. Kenneth Steiner or his representative, in this case, Mr. Beatty, is invited to present the stockholder proposal within the three-minute timeframe set forth in the meeting rules.
Proposal Four, Shareholder Proxy Access, sponsored by Kenneth Steiner. Shareholders ask the board of directors to adopt and present for shareholder approval, if necessary, a proxy access bylaw as detailed in the proxy statement. More than 52 proposals like this proposal won major votes at major companies in 2015. The right of shareholders to nominate director candidates at a reasonable cost is fundamental to good corporate governance and director accountability. Long-term shareholders should have a meaningful voice in nominating and electing directors. The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute performed a cost-benefit analysis and found that proxy access has the potential to enhance board performance, potentially increasing U.S. market capitalization by up to $140 billion, would benefit both the markets and corporate boardrooms with little cost or disruption. Please vote to enhance shareholder value, Proxy Access for Shareholders, Proposal Four.
Thank you, Mr. Beatty. We will now proceed with the vote on these matters. If there are any stockholders here who wish to vote in person, please raise your hand, or if you wish to change your earlier vote, please raise your hand. We will distribute ballots. I don't see anyone rushing to get any new ballots. Time is right now 9:15 A.M. I suggest actually we don't need to keep the polls open, right, Mr. Knight? Any longer?
A pause is fine. A pause.
I don't see anyone.
I don't see anyone rushing.
As you said, we need to.
The polls-
Unless they materialize, going-
The polls are now about to close.
Last chance.
Isa?
You okay?
I hope he voted.
Well, raise your hand if you want to turn in a ballot. Well, time is now 9:15 and the polls are closed. No further voting will be permitted. Saved some time there.
Yes, you did.
We will now take a few questions. Please raise your hand and wait to be recognized. The microphone attendants will assist with the use of the microphones. Remarks should be pertinent and as brief as possible, but certainly no more than the three-minute time limit, please. Upon being recognized, please state your name, firm or affiliation, city and country, and the subject you wish to discuss. See if there are any questions. Well. It's a very talkative group.
Put somebody on the spot.
Who are you putting on the spot?
I think Mr. Wittman looks like he has a question. Mr. Wittman. No questions, Mr. Wittman?
No questions. Okay. I will then call upon Beth VanDerbeck to announce the preliminary results at this time.
Mr. Chair, the preliminary results of the shareholder vote indicates that each of the company's 10 nominees for directors were elected for a one-year term, and that Proposals 2, 3, and 4 were approved.
Thank you. This concludes the official business portion of our meeting. I want to thank you all for attending today's meeting and for the interest of you shown in the affairs of Nasdaq. Since there is nothing further to come before the meeting, I will declare this meeting adjourned as of 9:17 A.M. Eastern Standard Time.