CME vs AMT Comparison

Based in Chicago, CME Group operates exchanges giving investors, suppliers, and businesses the ability to trade futures and derivatives based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, energy, metals, and commodities. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange was founded in 1898 and in 2002 completed its IPO. Since then, CME Group has consolidated parts of the industry by merging with crosstown rival CBOT Holdings in 2007 before acquiring Nymex Holdings in 2008 and NEX in 2018. In addition, the company has a 27% stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, making the Chicago Mercantile Exchange the exclusive venue to trade and clear S&P futures contracts. Through CME's acquisition of NEX, it also expanded into cash foreign exchange, fixed-income trading, and collateral optimization.

American Tower owns and operates about 150,000 wireless towers throughout the US, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. It also owns and/or operates 30 data centers in 11 US markets after acquiring CoreSite. The company's customer base in the tower business is very concentrated, with most revenue in each market generated by the top three or four mobile carriers. The company operates more than 40,000 towers in the US, which accounted for about half of total revenue in 2025. Outside the US, American Tower operates about 47,000 towers in Latin America (dominated by Brazil), 33,000 towers in Europe, and 28,000 towers in Africa. American Tower operates as a REIT.