Data monetization examples: 10 real companies
Short answer: Companies monetize data in five main ways, and each has public examples. Reddit and News Corp license content to AI developers. Shutterstock and the Associated Press license archives for model training. Spirit Airlines' records sold for a reported $10 million in bankruptcy. United and American raised billions secured by their loyalty programs, which combine customer relationships and member data. Caterpillar uses data from more than 1.6 million connected machines to support a $24 billion services business. Most of these are large companies, but the same models apply to mid-sized companies that hold specialist data buyers cannot get elsewhere.
Last updated November 12, 2026. Published by Data Revenue.
The examples at a glance
| # | Company | Model | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI training license and data feeds | $203.0 million of data licensing contracts disclosed in 2024 | |
| 2 | News Corp | AI training license | Reported at more than $250 million over five years |
| 3 | Shutterstock | AI training license | Six-year agreement to provide training data to OpenAI |
| 4 | The Associated Press | Archive license | OpenAI licensed part of AP's text archive back to 1985 |
| 5 | Spirit Airlines | Sale of company records | A reported $10 million from Google, in bankruptcy |
| 6 | Closed startups | Sale of code and workspace data | More than 150 deals through one wind-down service |
| 7 | United Airlines | Data-backed financing | $6.8 billion secured by MileagePlus |
| 8 | American Airlines | Data-backed financing | $10.0 billion of AAdvantage financing |
| 9 | Caterpillar | Indirect: data-driven services | 1.6 million connected assets; $24 billion services revenue |
| 10 | Mid-sized companies | Data products built on operating data | Subscription and resale products in education, logistics and environmental services |
1. Reddit: AI licensing plus paid data access
Reddit disclosed data licensing arrangements entered in January 2024 with an aggregate contract value of $203.0 million and terms of two to three years (TechCrunch, February 22, 2024). Reuters reported that the Google contract alone is worth about $60 million per year, according to one source (Reuters via Yahoo, February 22, 2024). Reddit also describes charging customers for access to real-time data streams through its data APIs above certain usage limits (Reddit, Inc. Form S-1, February 22, 2024).
The lesson: the same data can earn two ways at once, as a large training license and as a recurring paid feed.
2. News Corp: a multi-year AI license
News Corp signed a multi-year deal with OpenAI that The Wall Street Journal reported could be worth more than $250 million over five years (Variety via Yahoo, May 22, 2024).
The lesson: archives built up over decades for another purpose can become a licensable asset.
3. Shutterstock: training data from a content library
Shutterstock signed a six-year agreement giving OpenAI a license to training data from its image, video and music libraries and associated metadata (Shutterstock press release, July 11, 2023).
The lesson: metadata (descriptions, tags, categories) adds value, because it tells a model what the content means.
4. The Associated Press: licensing an archive
OpenAI licensed part of AP's text archive, with access to stories going back to 1985. Financial terms were not disclosed (PBS NewsHour, July 13, 2023).
The lesson: years of history are a value driver in their own right.
5. Spirit Airlines: company records sold in bankruptcy
MIT Technology Review reported that Google paid $10 million for Spirit Airlines' data during its bankruptcy. The data included about 100 million emails, 500 million Teams messages and 176,000 employee records (MIT Technology Review, October 13, 2026).
The lesson: ordinary internal records, not just customer data, now have buyers, because AI agents learn from how real companies work. Read more in our guide on how to sell your company's data to AI labs.
6. Closed startups: code and workspace data
The same MIT Technology Review article reports that one startup wind-down service added data sales in April 2026, has handled more than 150 deals, and expects to return over $10 million to startups by the end of 2026. Code or data sales now appear in 47 percent of its deals. One founder received about $25,000 for a crypto startup's code base, with about $15,000 more pending for workspace data.
The lesson: even small companies' data has a market, but a liquidation is the weakest position to sell from. An operating company can choose its timing and license the same data more than once.
7. United Airlines: financing secured by a data-rich program
United raised $6.8 billion secured by its MileagePlus loyalty program in 2020 (United Airlines Holdings Form 8-K, June 26, 2020). The financing required moving the program into a newly formed subsidiary, while United kept full ownership and operational control (Kirkland & Ellis, July 7, 2020).
The lesson: placing a data-rich asset in its own entity can make it easier to value and to finance. This is the idea behind a separate data company (a Data HoldCo).
8. American Airlines: $10 billion of loyalty-backed financing
American announced $10.0 billion of financing secured by its AAdvantage program in March 2021 (American Airlines Group, March 10, 2021).
The lesson: lenders will lend against customer relationships, partner contracts and member data when the asset is well documented. Law firm Ropes & Gray describes data asset financing as a logical extension of asset-backed lending (Ropes & Gray, June 2023).
9. Caterpillar: indirect monetization through services
Caterpillar reports more than 1.6 million connected and reporting assets in 2025, which it says help customers manage fleets and make more informed equipment decisions, and services revenues of $24 billion in 2025 (Caterpillar 2025 Annual Report). Caterpillar attributes its services growth to several efforts, so this is not evidence that data alone drove the result.
The lesson: data can earn revenue without ever being sold, by powering services customers pay for.
10. Mid-sized companies: data products built from operating data
The headline examples above are large companies. Data Revenue's data refinery team has built data products since 2019 for 269 clients across 18 industry sectors. Three anonymized examples:
- Education: a subscription data product built and launched in about six months.
- Logistics: operational analytics packaged and resold to the company's own customers.
- Environmental services: a tiered data offering, with basic and premium levels for different buyers.
The lesson: the opportunity for most companies is narrower than a Reddit-sized license: specialist, well-documented data in one industry, sold as a product to the buyers who need it.
What the examples have in common
- Licensing beats selling. Most deals grant limited rights and leave ownership with the company.
- History and depth drive value. Archives going back years, and records that capture real work, command the highest prices.
- Structure matters. United and American separated the asset before financing it.
- Rights come first. Every deal depends on being able to show the data can lawfully be licensed. See how to monetize data for the rights review and privacy rules.
- Value is never guaranteed. Start with an indicative value before committing to a program.
Which model fits your company?
| If your data is mostly... | The likely first model |
|---|---|
| Internal communications, documents and code | An AI training license of a de-identified copy |
| Transactions, orders, claims or service records | A licensed dataset or recurring data feed to industry buyers |
| Equipment, sensor or usage data | Data-driven services, or a licensed feed to adjacent industries |
| Customer and loyalty relationships with long history | A data company structure that can support licensing and, later, financing |
The free 15-question Data Snapshot shows an indicative value range for your data, a fit verdict and the three quickest ways your data could earn revenue, in about five minutes. Any range is indicative, not a guarantee of value or revenue. To understand the numbers, read how much your company's data is worth.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of data monetization?
Reddit licensing its content to AI developers is a well-known example: it disclosed $203.0 million of data licensing contracts in 2024. Other examples include News Corp's AI license, United's $6.8 billion financing secured by its MileagePlus program, and Caterpillar's use of connected-machine data to support its services business.
What are the main types of data monetization?
Direct monetization earns revenue from outside buyers, through data licensing, data feeds, AI training licenses, insights reports and data-backed financing. Indirect monetization uses data to improve your own products, services and decisions, as Caterpillar does with connected equipment.
Can a small or mid-sized company monetize its data like these examples?
Yes, at a smaller scale. Size matters less than uniqueness, years of history, quality and buyer demand. Many mid-sized companies hold specialist data in one industry that buyers cannot get elsewhere.
Do companies sell their data or license it?
Most license it. A license grants limited, defined rights of use for a term, keeps ownership with the company and lets it license the same data to other buyers, unless it grants exclusivity.
Sources
- TechCrunch, "Reddit says it's made $203M so far licensing its data," February 22, 2024. https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/22/reddit-says-its-made-203m-so-far-licensing-its-data
- Reuters (republished by Yahoo), "Exclusive: Reddit in AI content licensing deal with Google, sources say," February 22, 2024. https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/exclusive-reddit-ai-content-licensing-041012503.html
- Reddit, Inc., Form S-1 Registration Statement, February 22, 2024. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1713445/000162828024006294/reddits-1q423.htm
- Variety (republished by Yahoo), "News Corp Inks OpenAI Licensing Deal Potentially Worth More Than $250 Million," May 22, 2024. https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/news-corp-inks-openai-licensing-211417483.html
- Shutterstock (PR Newswire, via AAP), "Shutterstock Expands Partnership with OpenAI, Signs New Six-Year Agreement to Provide High-Quality Training Data," July 11, 2023. https://www.aap.com.au/aapreleases/cision20230711ae52967
- PBS NewsHour (Associated Press), "ChatGPT-maker OpenAI signs deal with AP to license news stories," July 13, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/chatgpt-creator-openai-signs-deal-with-ap-to-license-news-stories
- Matthew King, "AI labs are buying data from dead startups to train their models," MIT Technology Review, October 13, 2026. https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/10/13/1145755/ai-labs-buying-data-from-dead-startups-to-train-models
- United Airlines Holdings, Inc., Form 8-K (event date June 25, 2020), June 26, 2020. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/100517/000110465920077050/tm2023500d1_8k.htm
- Kirkland & Ellis, "Kirkland Represents United Airlines on $6.8 Billion Financing Secured by MileagePlus Program," July 7, 2020. https://kirkland.com/news/press-release/2020/07/kirkland-reps-ua-on--financing-mileageplus
- American Airlines Group Inc., Exhibit 99.1 (pricing of AAdvantage notes and term loan), March 10, 2021. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/4515/000000620121000024/aex991securednotespricingp.htm
- Ropes & Gray, "Data Asset Financing: New Asset, New Opportunity," June 2023. https://www.ropesgray.com/en/insights/alerts/2023/06/data-asset-financing-new-asset-new-opportunity
- Caterpillar Inc., 2025 Annual Report (SEC Form ARS), 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000018230/000130817926000360/cat015318-ars.pdf