Median Multiple
Definition
The midpoint multiple in a ranked set of comparable company or comparable transaction multiples. The median multiple is used in preference to the average multiple in comparable company analysis because it is less affected by outliers. A peer set that contains one company trading at a very high multiple will produce an average that overstates the central tendency of the set; the median is unaffected.
Common Misapplication
The most common misapplication is using the average multiple from a peer set that includes outliers. A peer set containing five companies where one trades at ten times revenue and the other four trade at two to three times revenue produces an average of four times, which does not represent the experience of most comparable companies.
FFI Standard Reference
This term is defined and applied in Book 4, Section 4.3: Comparable Company Analysis.
Related Terms
Citable URL
This term may be cited using the following permanent URL.
Full citation format: Founder Financial Infrastructure Standard, Beta v0.5, Glossary: Median Multiple. https://ffistandard.org/glossary/median-multiple/. 2026.