Amgen vs AT&T: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Amgen and AT&T side by side

1. 1885AT&T

   AT&T Founded as the Bell System Long-Distance Arm

   American Telephone and Telegraph was incorporated in 1885 to build and operate long-distance telephone lines for the Bell system.

2. 1913AT&T

   Kingsbury Commitment

   The Kingsbury Commitment settled a major antitrust threat. AT&T agreed to divest its Western Union holdings, connect independent telephone companies to its long-distance network and seek approval for further acquisitions.

3. 1925AT&T

   Bell Telephone Laboratories Founded

   AT&T and Western Electric consolidated their research into Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1925.

4. 1980Amgen

   Applied Molecular Genetics is incorporated

   Applied Molecular Genetics (AMGen) was incorporated on April 8, 1980 in Thousand Oaks, California, as the idea of venture capitalist William K. Bowes Jr. and a group of scientific collaborators.

5. 1983Amgen

   Nasdaq listing and the erythropoietin clone

   Amgen completed its initial public offering on June 17, 1983, raising nearly US$40 million under chief financial officer Gordon Binder, and formally shortened its name to Amgen.

6. 1984Amgen

   Kirin-Amgen joint venture formed

   Amgen and Kirin Brewery Company of Japan formed Kirin-Amgen in 1984 as a joint venture for the worldwide commercialization of erythropoietin.

7. 1984AT&T

   Bell System Breakup Takes Effect

   Divestiture took effect on January 1, 1984 under the 1982 consent decree. AT&T gave up the local exchange operations that had produced most of its revenue, which became seven regional Bell operating companies, and kept long distance, Western Electric and Bell…

8. 1985Amgen

   G-CSF cloned, leading to Neupogen

   While Fu-Kuen Lin's team worked on erythropoietin, researcher Larry Souza and his group cloned and expressed human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in 1985.

9. 1989Amgen

   FDA approves Epogen

   The FDA approved Epogen (epoetin alfa) on June 1, 1989 for anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure on dialysis. It was the first commercial recombinant human erythropoietin. Epogen's U.S.

10. 1991Amgen

    Neupogen approved, giving Amgen a second franchise

    The FDA approved Neupogen (filgrastim) in February 1991. By stimulating white blood cell production it reduced the risk of infection in cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

11. 1991Amgen

    Amgen wins the erythropoietin patent fight

    On March 6, 1991 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the Kirin-Amgen erythropoietin patent and ruled against Genetics Institute in Amgen v. Chugai Pharmaceutical and Genetics Institute.

12. 2001Amgen

    FDA approves Aranesp, the longer-acting EPO

    Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa), an erythropoietin analogue with modified glycosylation and a longer half-life, was approved in 2001. Less frequent dosing than Epogen improved convenience and gave Amgen a newer, higher-priced product to migrate patients toward.

13. 2002Amgen

    US$16 billion Immunex acquisition brings Enbrel in-house

    Amgen completed its acquisition of Immunex Corporation on July 16, 2002, the largest biotechnology deal to that point at about US$16 billion in stock and cash.

14. 2005AT&T

    SBC Acquires AT&T Corporation and Takes the Name

    SBC Communications, one of the regional companies created by the 1984 breakup, acquired AT&T Corporation in 2005 for about $16 billion and adopted the AT&T name.

15. 2007AT&T

    Exclusive US iPhone Launch Carrier

    AT&T, then operating wireless under the Cingular brand, was the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple's first iPhone in 2007.

16. 2010Amgen

    Prolia and XGEVA create the bone health franchise

    The FDA approved Prolia (denosumab) for postmenopausal osteoporosis in June 2010 and XGEVA, the same molecule at a higher dose, for prevention of skeletal-related events in cancer patients in November 2010.

17. 2015AT&T

    DirecTV Acquisition Completed

    AT&T completed the DirecTV purchase on July 24, 2015 for $48.5 billion, about $67 billion including assumed debt, betting that satellite video would reinforce telecom relationships.

18. 2018AT&T

    Time Warner Acquisition Completed

    AT&T completed the $85.4 billion Time Warner purchase on June 14, 2018, two days after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department challenge. The deal brought HBO, Warner Bros.

19. 2019Amgen

    US$13.4 billion purchase of Otezla from Celgene

    Amgen agreed in August 2019 to buy worldwide rights to Otezla (apremilast) from Celgene for US$13.4 billion in cash, or about US$11.2 billion net of the present value of US$2.2 billion of anticipated future cash tax benefits, and closed on November 21, 2019.

20. 2020Amgen

    Amgen joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average

    Amgen replaced Pfizer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on August 31, 2020, becoming one of the thirty components in the index. Inclusion recognized the scale Amgen had reached and added passive demand from Dow-tracking funds.

21. 2020AT&T

    John T. Stankey Becomes CEO

    John T. Stankey became chief executive on July 1, 2020, inheriting high debt, a media portfolio under pressure and a shifting broadband market.

22. 2022AT&T

    WarnerMedia Separated and Merged with Discovery

    AT&T separated WarnerMedia in April 2022 and combined it with Discovery to create Warner Bros. Discovery, receiving cash and debt relief of about $40.4 billion.

23. 2023Amgen

    US$27.8 billion Horizon Therapeutics acquisition closes

    Amgen completed the acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc on October 6, 2023 for US$116.50 per share in cash, an equity value of about US$27.8 billion, after settling FTC litigation with a behavioral consent decree.

24. 2023AT&T

    $14 Billion Open RAN Contract with Ericsson

    In December 2023 AT&T committed roughly $14 billion over five years to Ericsson to deploy commercial-scale open radio access network equipment, with a target of carrying 70% of its wireless traffic on open-capable platforms by late 2026.

25. 2024Amgen

    Imdelltra becomes the first T-cell engager for small cell lung cancer

    The FDA granted accelerated approval to tarlatamab, sold as Imdelltra, on May 16, 2024 for extensive stage small cell lung cancer that has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

26. 2025Amgen

    VESALIUS-CV extends the Repatha case to primary prevention

    In November 2025 Amgen reported Phase 3 VESALIUS-CV results in more than 12,000 patients with atherosclerosis or diabetes but no prior heart attack or stroke.

27. 2025AT&T

    DIRECTV Exit Completed

    AT&T closed the sale of its entire remaining 70% DIRECTV stake to TPG on July 2, 2025, recording a $5.6 billion gain.

28. 2025AT&T

    Fiber Network Passes 30 Million Locations

    AT&T said in October 2025 that its fiber network had passed more than 30 million consumer and business locations, ahead of its own schedule, and finished the year at 32.0 million.

29. 2026Amgen

    Medicare price setting reaches Enbrel and Otezla

    Enbrel's negotiated Medicare price under the Inflation Reduction Act took effect on January 1, 2026, after it was named in the first round of ten drugs selected for negotiation.

30. 2026AT&T

    Lumen Fiber and EchoStar Spectrum Deals Close

    AT&T completed two large network purchases in 2026. In February it closed the $5.75 billion acquisition of Lumen's mass markets fiber business, adding more than 1 million subscribers and more than 4 million fiber locations in eleven states.

Acquisitions

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