The story
Founded by John Moody in 1909, in New York City.1
History
Moody's Corporation traces its history back to two publishing companies established by John Moody, the inventor of modern bond credit ratings. It was first published in 1900 by John Moody, nine years before he founded Moody's Corporation. Initially called Moody's Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous Securities, it was later superseded by Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities, then by Moody's Analyses of Investments.
In 1900, Moody published his first market assessment, called Moody's Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous Securities, and established John Moody & Company. The publication provided detailed statistics relating to stocks and bonds of financial institutions, government agencies, manufacturing, mining, utilities, and food companies. It experienced early success, selling out its first print run in its first two months.
By 1903, Moody's Manual was a nationally recognized publication. The 1907 financial crisis fueled several changes in the markets, including the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Meanwhile, Moody was forced to sell his business due to a shortage of capital. Moody returned in 1909 with a new publication focused solely on railroad bonds, Analysis of Railroad Investments, and a new company, Moody's Analyses Publishing Company.
In 1962, Moody's Investors Service was bought by Dun & Bradstreet, a firm engaged in the related field of credit reporting, although they continued to operate largely as independent companies. By the late 1990s, Moody's superior performance compared to its parent company brought investor pressure to separate the businesses. In 1998, Dun & Bradstreet sold the Moody's publishing business to Financial Communications (later renamed Mergent). In December 1999, Dun & Bradstreet announced it would spin off Moody's Investors Service into a separate publicly traded company. The spin-off was completed on September 30, 2000.
In December 2022, the company was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.
The Moody's Foundation
In 2002, Moody's Corporation created a corporate philanthropy program, The Moody's Foundation, focused on educational initiatives in mathematics, economics and finance. The organization offers grants to 501(c)(3) non-profits and equivalent international organizations, accredited schools and some governmental organizations.
Since 2006, its main program has been the annual Moody's Mega Math Challenge (M3 Challenge), a student academic challenge co-sponsored with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), in which several hundred teams of high school students use quantitative analysis and modeling to solve problems related to real-life financial topics such as Social Security and the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. The program has continued to expand since 2010.
From Wikipedia’s article on Moody's Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7