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Euronext: the Amsterdam, Paris and Milan exchanges
Formed Sept 2000; Amsterdam 1602· Institution or agency
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
A pan-European exchange group running the Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Lisbon, Dublin, Oslo, Milan and Athens stock markets, formed in 2000.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
Euronext was formed in September 2000 by merging the Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris exchanges. Amsterdam's roots go back to 1602, when the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sold shares. Euronext merged with the NYSE in 2007, was spun off by new owner ICE in 2014, then bought Dublin (2018), Oslo (2019), Milan's Borsa Italiana (2021) and a majority of the Athens exchange (2025). Its markets list about 1,900 companies worth about €6.8 trillion (end-2025), including LVMH, ASML and Ferrari.
Why it matters
It is Europe's largest stock market and a model for stitching national exchanges together, though each company still lists in a national market under national regulators.
Facts, rules and data
Euronext annual reports and listing statistics, merger filings with European regulators, and histories of the Amsterdam exchange drawn from VOC records in Dutch archives.
Debates and risks
Whether Europe can build a single 'capital markets union' deep enough to keep its fast-growing tech firms from listing in New York.
Connections (2)
▸Euronext: the Amsterdam, Paris and Milan exchanges is bigger by listed value than London Stock Exchange (LSEG) and the FTSE 100Fact, law or data
The connection
Euronext's markets list about €6.8 trillion of companies, well above London's total. Paris alone passed London as Europe's most valuable stock market in late 2022, helped by luxury giants such as LVMH, while Brexit, a weaker pound and companies moving listings to New York shrank London's share.
When and why
Paris and London, November 2022, when Bloomberg data showed French stocks worth more than British ones; Euronext's lead grew after it bought Borsa Italiana in 2021.
How we know
Market-capitalization statistics from Euronext, LSEG, the World Federation of Exchanges and Bloomberg.
Debates and risks
Rankings shift with currencies and counting methods, and London still leads Europe in foreign listings, bond trading and currency trading.
▸Euronext: the Amsterdam, Paris and Milan exchanges includes Amsterdam, the birthplace of Stocks: owning a slice of a companyFact, law or data
The connection
In 1602 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sold shares to the public in Amsterdam, and buyers soon traded them with each other, creating the first continuous market in company shares. That model of permanent capital, tradable shares and limited liability spread to London and the rest of the world.
When and why
Amsterdam from 1602; over 1,000 investors subscribed to the VOC's first offering, and trading moved into a purpose-built exchange building in 1611.
How we know
The VOC subscription register survives in Dutch archives, a 1606 share certificate was found in 2010, and historians such as Lodewijk Petram have documented the trading.
Debates and risks
Whether earlier share trading, such as in medieval Toulouse mill companies, counts as the true first stock market.