R&D spending has grown substantially in the 21st century as the global economy has become increasingly driven by technological innovation. Since 2008, total R&D spending across all companies in the Nasdaq Global Large Cap™ Index tripled from $342 billion to more than$1 trillion by 2023. The top quartile of R&D spenders (R&D as a % of Sales) demonstrated the fastest growth, from ~13% of aggregate revenues in 2008 to ~18% in 2024, reinvesting six times more of every dollar of revenue earned back into R&D vs. ...