NAVTEQ Corporation is the leading global provider of maps, traffic and location data (digital location content) enabling navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising around the world. Virtually every North American car with a navigation system uses NAVTEQ data. This also extends to the majority of European navigation systems, as well as mapping software suites such as ArcGIS.
Founded in Silicon Valley in 1985, NAVTEQ relocated its headquarters to the Chicago area in the 1990s, taking advantage of the city's central location. In 2001, it moved to the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, where it achieved 77% job growth in just five years.
In 2007, NAVTEQ announced one of the largest downtown tenant moves of that year, when it leased 230,000 square feet at 425 W. Randolph St. Later that year Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone company, bought NAVTEQ. Today, the company remains headquartered in Chicago with approximately 4,400 employees worldwide.
In the summer of 2009, Larry Kaplan, formerly EVP and General Counsel at NAVTEQ was appointed CEO of the company. Kaplan has been with NAVTEQ since 1995, and has overseen some of the company’s most significant business milestones including its 2004 initial public offering, 2005 secondary offering and its $8 billion acquisition by Nokia.
Here, Kaplan talks about the how this multi-national company benefits from being in headquartered in Chicago. Watch on YouTube…
