Dun & Bradstreet is a credit bureau that collects and sells business data. It contains commercial data on 240 million plus companies. The company collects business data from various sources, including public records, surveys, and payment history. It then sells this data to creditors, insurers, and other businesses that need it to decide whether or not to do business with a given company. The company was founded in 1841 by Lewis Tappan to help American merchants. In 1933, John M. Bradstreet and R.gl Dun merged their companies and formed Dun & Bradstreet.