A graphic shows valuations over the past decade for three categories of investments—U.S. public equity, global public equity, and global buyout. Each valuation is measured annually and defined as enterprise value as a share of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The valuations of U.S. and global public equities were more volatile and, in most years, higher than the valuation of global buyout. All three sets of valuations generally rose over the decade, especially those of public equities. The greater expansion of public equity valuations left them at or near peaks relative to buyout valuations in 2025. At that time, U.S. and global public equities’ valuation multiples stood at about 18.8 times and 14.8 times adjusted earnings, respectively, while global buyout stood at about 10.9 times. The valuations of the three categories were most similar in 2015, when they were in the range of roughly 9 times adjusted earnings for buyout and 11 times for the public categories.