Dow Jones

The Dow Jones index licensing business: ~$1B top line, near-zero cost

David, a former Dow Jones employee, recounts that the indexes business they sold was a billion-dollar-top-line operation with almost no expenses, essentially pure profit, because it was just licensing the Dow name.

“But, um, but it was a billion-dollar business within Dow Jones. So billion-dollar top line, basically no expenses. Like it was all just pure money. And what it was, it was just a marketing thing. It was like, you get to use the Dow name. Like that's— so it's like a license, like a licensing thing.”