Getty Images

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace. The company supplies stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for businesses and consumers, boasting a library of over 477 million assets. It serves three primary markets: creative professionals (in advertising and graphic design), the media (both print and online publishing), and corporate entities (for in-house design, marketing, and communication departments). Founded in March 1995 as Getty Investments, LLC by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein, the company initially focused on turning a fragmented, analog stock photo business into a global e-commerce industry leader. It was the first company to license imagery via the web, a move that shifted the entire industry online. Over the years, Getty Images has expanded significantly through acquisitions of other photo agencies and archives, digitizing their collections to enable online distribution. Notable acquisitions include PhotoDisc in 1997, which led to the formation of Getty Images as it is known today, and iStockphoto in 2006. The company relocated its headquarters to Seattle, Washington, in the U.S. two years after the PhotoDisc merger.

Getty Images operates a large commercial website where clients can search and browse for images, purchase usage rights, and download content. Image pricing varies based on resolution and the type of rights acquired. The company also offers custom photo services for corporate clients. Through its Getty Images, iStock, and Unsplash brands, websites, and APIs, the company serves customers in almost every country worldwide. It works with over 583,000 content creators and more than 350 content partners to deliver a comprehensive range of visual content. Each year, Getty Images covers more than 160,000 news, sport, and entertainment events, providing unmatched depth and breadth of coverage. The company also maintains one of the largest and best privately-owned photographic archives globally, with millions of images dating back to the beginning of photography. In recent developments, Getty Images launched an AI image generator, leveraging generative AI technologies to allow customers to create compelling visuals efficiently. The company continues to adapt to technological advancements, integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve its search functionalities and overall user experience. Getty Images became a public company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GETY.