Who Founded Johnson & Johnson?

Robert Wood Johnson (1845-1910) co-founded Johnson & Johnson in 1886 and served as its first president. Influenced by Joseph Lister's antiseptic methods, he led the company's mass production of sterile surgical dressings and sutures and its early medical-education publishing, including the 1888 guide Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment.

Education: Wyoming Seminary.

Robert Wood Johnson I was born on February 20, 1845 and died on February 7, 1910. Robert Wood Johnson was born in 1845.

James Wood Johnson (1856-1932) co-founded J&J with his brothers in 1886. An engineer by trade, he designed the early manufacturing machinery that allowed the company to mass-produce sterile surgical dressings. After his brother Robert's death in 1910, James took over as president, guiding the company through its expansion during World War I until 1932.

Johnson was born on March 17, 1856. He died in September 1932 aboard RMS Majestic in the mid-Atlantic while returning to the United States from a holiday in Britain. James Wood Johnson was born in 1856.

Edward Mead Johnson (1852-1934) co-founded J&J in 1886, bringing crucial sales and marketing expertise to the early business. He recognized the urgent need for safe infant feeding solutions, leading him to leave J&J in 1895 to establish his own company, Mead Johnson & Company, which became a global pioneer in infant nutrition.

Education: University of Michigan; University of Michigan Law School.

Johnson was born on April 23, 1852 and died on March 20, 1934. He gave up a career in law to join his brothers in 1886, and left the business in 1895 to found what became Mead Johnson. Edward Mead Johnson was born in 1852.