2021 sales: $7.1 billion*
Previous ranking: 3
Employees: 16,680
666 Third Ave., Fourth Floor
New York, NY 10172
Phone: (212) 329-7200
Website Executives
CEO: Paul Abbott
Company facts
* Began trading as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange on May 31, 2022. Partnered with Apollo Strategic Growth Capital to form a special purpose acquisition company to take the company public. Trades under the symbol GBTG.
2021 developments
* As clients looked to get back to business travel, the company supported new needs for getting dispersed workforces together to meet in person, while also accounting for the continued need for technology to power hybrid and virtual meetings. The meetings sector recovered more quickly than overall business travel. Corporate travel and meetings programs, traditionally managed separately, are converging.
* The Travel Vitals tool for searching travel guidelines won the Technology Innovation -- Traveler Experience Award at the 2021 Business Travel Awards Europe. The Post-Trip Feedback Survey gave travel managers a "realistic picture of what travel is like during the pandemic."
* Acquired Ovation Travel Group and Egencia (Expedia Group's corporate travel agency). The Egencia purchase strengthened digital and ecommerce capabilities. Egencia was acquired Nov. 1, 2021, and total sales volume for Amex GBT reflect only Egencia sales for the last two months of 2021.
* $235 million in structural cost reductions in 2020 and 2021.
* $3.7 billion in new client wins, 95% customer-retention rate.
Looking ahead
* Smaller firms leading the return to travel, largely due to more flexibility than global and multinational clients around office reopening and policies and procedures. Transactions reached 61% of 2019 levels for the week ending April 2, an increase of 33 points from mid-January.
Update: This entry was updated June 29 to clarify its current position as a publicly traded company.
NOTE ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS GLOBAL BUSINESS TRAVEL'S SALES AND RANKING: Some Power List companies
have resubmitted their numbers, which have resulted in changes in the
rankings. Read more about those changes.