250 Years of Corporate America: What European Business Can Learn

Key Takeaways

• US capital markets reward growth over profitability.
• European investors remain comparatively risk-averse.
• This investment culture shapes where technology companies choose to scale and list.
• European businesses can learn from America’s long-term approach to innovation.

The Old World didn’t earn that moniker for nothing. Europe’s institutions stretch back many centuries into a rich and storied past. 

Take the stock exchange as a case in point. Its beginnings are in the early modern era with the first exchange, the Antwerp Bourse, opening in 1532. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) traces its roots to 1571 and the founding of the Royal Exchange. 

For context, this took place just 58 years after the first European set foot in what would become the US (in 1513, Ponce de León had landed on the eastern coast of a peninsula he named “La Florida”). 

By comparison, US stock exchanges are Johnny-come-latelies. It wasn’t until after the War of Independence that the first exchanges opened, first in Philadelphia (1790), then in New York (1792).

At that time, the UK was the undisputed financial and industrial powerhouse of the world, whereas the US was predominantly small, pre-industrial, and heavily reliant on subsistence farming and raw commodity exports. At this time, the average Western European enjoyed a much higher standard of living and purchasing power than the average American.

Fast forward 250 years and the 4th July fireworks rained down on one of the most successful economies in human history and home to many of the businesses that are changing the face of the world. 

The dominance of the US exchanges 

Today, among the three major US exchanges (Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, and the over-the-counter (OTC) markets) there are more than 12,000 publicly traded stocks. 3,600 of these have valuations of $250 million or more.

The LSE, meanwhile, currently lists just 1,900 companies. Concerningly, the UK equity market has seen a significant decline in its listing base over the past decade, with the number of publicly traded companies on the exchange shrinking by around 25%.The world’s oldest continuously trading exchange is clearly showing signs of age.

Some European exchanges have fared better. Amsterdam, Paris, and a number of smaller exchanges have joined together in Euronext, and allowed joint listings. Euronext captures nearly a third of all new stock listings in Europe and attracts over 40% of all international listings on the continent. 

Outside of Euronext, however, European exchanges are struggling. The number of listed domestic German companies on the Deutsche Börse, for example, has trended downward, hitting a record low of 537 companies in early 2026.  

One key challenge is that a large number of European success stories now choose to list on US exchanges as they have deeper capital markets and generally offer higher valuations. 

In other cases, European companies have been acquired by US enterprises, leading to their delisting from the local exchange. Recent examples include Just Group and Darktrace in the UK. 

For many businesses today the choice is clear. If you’re a massive, high-growth tech company, you’re likely skipping Europe entirely for New York. If you are a major European corporate carve-out, you’re likely listing in Amsterdam, Paris, or Frankfurt. Meanwhile, the LSE and other regional bourses are stuck fighting declining liquidity, smaller investor pools, and geopolitical uncertainties that make launching a successful public offering incredibly difficult.

Stemming the tide

Efforts are being made to staunch the flow. Last November, for instance, the UK government set out budget  measures to help businesses start-up, scale-up, and stay in the UK. These included backing for entrepreneurs, new support for companies at the cutting-edge of innovation, and AI champions to boost adoption of the technology. 

If these measures are to bear fruit, however, investors need to take a lead from their US counterparts. 

Part of the reason businesses are flocking to the US is that investors in the country have a greater appetite for risk and are more willing to take big bets. Institutional investors are actively looking for the next big thing, and are comfortable backing tech companies that burn through billions of dollars in cash before ever showing a single dollar of profit. All that matters is that they can see a clear path to future scale.

In Europe, meanwhile, institutional investors are much more conservative and focused on predictable income. Here, investors prioritize dividend yields, cash flows, and immediate profitability. Pre-revenue tech firms struggle to get a decent valuation, and certainly nothing on the scale they would get from the US. 

When the US was formed 250 years ago, it was built on a vision of small government, laissez-fair capitalism, and, famously, the pursuit of happiness. It’s therefore unsurprising that even today investors in the country are bolder, more positive, and less risk adverse than their European cousins – and the tech sector is thriving as a result. If Europe is serious about its scaling up startups and listing them locally, that’s a mindset we need to adopt. 

For communications leaders, the lesson extends beyond capital markets. Companies that successfully scale internationally don’t just attract investment, they build narratives that resonate with investors, customers, employees and policymakers alike. Developing that narrative is where strategic communications becomes a competitive advantage.