Johnson & Johnson
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Company History
Founded 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey
Robert Wood Johnson I, James Wood Johnson, and Edward Mead Johnson founded Johnson & Johnson in 1886 to produce sterile surgical dressings and medical products at scale.
Robert Wood Johnson, James Wood Johnson, and Edward Mead Johnson found the company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with 14 employees, to mass-produce sterile surgical dressings after Robert was inspired by antiseptic pioneer Joseph Lister's 1885 warnings about infection risk in American hospitals.
J&J introduces the first mass-produced adhesive bandage, sold under the Band-Aid brand starting in 1921; it becomes one of the most recognized consumer-health brands in the world before J&J later spins its consumer division out as Kenvue in 2023.
Chairman Robert Wood Johnson II authors 'Our Credo,' an one-page statement ranking the company's responsibilities to customers, employees, communities, and shareholders in that order; it remains J&J's official governing philosophy and was later cited as the basis for the company's 1982 Tylenol recall decision.
Johnson & Johnson lists publicly, becoming an independent, market-traded company as it expands into a diversified healthcare business under Chairman Robert Wood Johnson II.
After seven people in the Chicago area die from cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules, J&J issues a nationwide recall of 31 million bottles within a week -- far beyond what investigators said was necessary -- citing Our Credo's customer-safety priority. The response, which cost more than $100 million, is now taught as the standard for corporate crisis management, and Tylenol recovered its market position within about a year.
Gorsky succeeds William Weldon as CEO amid a period of manufacturing-quality recalls, and spends the next decade restoring J&J's operational reputation while expanding the pharmaceutical and MedTech businesses and developing a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
Duato becomes CEO in January 2022, later adding the chairman title, and begins preparing the separation of J&J's consumer-health business from its medicine and device operations.
J&J completes the spinoff of its consumer-health business (Band-Aid, Tylenol, Listerine, Neutrogena) as the standalone public company Kenvue, narrowing J&J around its higher-margin Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments.
Johnson & Johnson reports $94.193 billion in sales and $26.804 billion in net earnings, split roughly 64% Innovative Medicine and 36% MedTech, both segments growing about 6% year over year.
J&J acquired the Swiss biotech Actelion to add pulmonary arterial hypertension treatments and strengthen its specialty pharmaceutical pipeline.
Johnson & Johnson separated its consumer-health business -- Band-Aid, Tylenol, Listerine, Neutrogena -- into the standalone public company Kenvue, rather than acquiring a company.
J&J acquired heart-pump maker Abiomed to expand its MedTech cardiovascular device portfolio, paying $380 per share upfront plus contingent value rights of up to $35 per share tied to milestones.
J&J acquired Shockwave Medical, a leading maker of intravascular lithotripsy devices used to treat calcified coronary and peripheral artery disease, to further build out its cardiovascular MedTech business.
J&J agreed to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $132.00 per share in cash, adding the neuroscience drug CAPLYTA and related pipeline assets to its Innovative Medicine business.
Since its establishment in 1886, Johnson & Johnson expanded from an early-stage venture into a recognized leader in Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, overcoming key market challenges.
Over its history, Johnson & Johnson executed decisive strategic pivots toward scalable monetization and digital distribution, securing its current market leadership.
By continually modernizing operations and embracing workflow automation, Johnson & Johnson maintains resilience through changing technological and economic cycles.