Under the terms of the agreement, the combined company will retain the Getty Images name and continue trading under the NYSE ticker symbol "GETY." Craig Peters, current CEO of Getty Images, will lead the merged entity, while Shutterstock's CEO Paul Hennessy will join the eleven-member Board of Directors.

The two big players in the licensed visual content will pair up to counter threats from artificial intelligence tools like Midjourney.

Visual content developers and entertainment and media investors were elated when Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK) and Getty Images (NYSE: GETY) announced that they were merging. This $3.7 billion deal will combine two of the biggest names in stock photography,

The deal, presented as a merger of equals, will create a company worth $3.7Bn with annual revenue of around $2Bn.

Getty Images announced that it would buy rival Shutterstock to create a $3.7 billion visual content company which is set to become a powerhouse in the industry.