Finance · Profile from Finance Research Companion
American Express
The largest closed-loop card company in the world: an 1850 express-delivery firm that became a money-order and Travelers Cheque business, launched its charge card in 1958, and now issues cards, runs the network and signs the merchants on most of its own transactions. Its model is built on affluent, high-spending cardmembers who pay high annual fees and generate a merchant discount above Visa and Mastercard credit pricing, which funds rich rewards. It survived the 1991 "Boston Fee Party" and credit losses, became a bank holding company in 2008, lost Costco in 2016, won Ohio v. American Express in the Supreme Court in 2018, and has repositioned its Platinum and Gold cards toward millennial and Gen Z premium spenders. 2025 revenue net of interest expense was ~$72.2bn and net income ~$10.8bn.
At a glance
- Founded
- March 18, 1850, Albany, New York, as an express (freight and valuables delivery) company by Henry Wells, William Fargo and John Butterfield (company history)
- Headquarters
- 200 Vesey Street, New York
- Ownership / structure
- Public (NYSE: AXP); Berkshire Hathaway the largest shareholder at ~20% since the 1990s (reported, verify current stake)
- Leadership (2026)
- Stephen J. Squeri, chairman and CEO (CEO since February 2018); Christophe Le Caillec, CFO (verify)
- Segments
- US Consumer Services; Commercial Services; International Card Services; Global Merchant and Network Services (company segments since 2024; verify current names)
- Scale
- Billed business ~$454bn in Q3 2026 (+8% FX-adjusted); cards in force ~150m worldwide (verify); card loans and receivables well above $150bn (verify)
- Revenue and profit
- 2025: revenue net of interest expense ~$72.2bn (+10%), net income ~$10.8bn, EPS $15.38 (company, January 30, 2026). Q3 2026: revenue ~$20.1bn (+9%), net income ~$3.7bn incl. a gain on the GBTG stake sale; adjusted EPS ~$4.68; 2026 GAAP EPS guidance raised to $18.30–18.60 (company, October 23, 2026)
- Capital / regulatory status
- Bank holding company since November 2008, supervised by the Federal Reserve; American Express National Bank (OCC-chartered) issues US cards and takes deposits (~$140bn-plus of deposits, verify); Category III firm for capital purposes (verify)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Charge card and closed loop (1958); Optima credit losses and the Boston Fee Party (1991); bank holding company and TARP (2008); Costco loss (2015–16); Platinum repositioning and premium-fee strategy (2017–25); Ohio v. American Express (2018); Delta co-brand renewal (2019); DOJ and Fed sales-practices settlements (2025)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1958
Charge Card Launch and Closed Loop
Launch
1991
Boston Fee Party and Optima Losses
Failure / pricing change
2008
Bank Holding Company and TARP
Bailout / restructuring (conversion to bank holding company)
2015
Costco Partnership Loss
Partnership loss (co-brand and exclusive acceptance)
2017
Platinum Repositioning and Premium Fee Strategy
Pricing change / pivot (product repositioning)
2018
Ohio v American Express Supreme Court
Litigation (antitrust defence)
2019
Delta Co Brand Renewal
Partnership (co-brand renewal)
2025
DOJ Sales Practices Settlement
Regulatory settlement