Schneider Electric is a European multinational company[4] providing energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability.[5] It addresses homes,[6] buildings,[7] data centers,[8] infrastructure and industries,[9] by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, software and services.[10] The company has operations in over 100 countries and employs 135,000+ people.[11] The company is a Fortune Global 500 company, publicly traded on the Euronext Exchange, and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.[12] In FY2019, the company posted revenues of €27.2 billion.[13] Schneider Electric is the parent company of Square D, APC and others. It is also a research company, investing EUR10 billion in innovation and R&D for sustainable development between 2015 and 2025.[14] The company holds 20,000 patents either active or in application worldwide and invests 5% of its annual revenue in Research and Development.[15] The company began in 1836 as Schneider & Cie. It was ultimately renamed Schneider Electric in May 1999.