Apple vs Bayer: Founders, CEOs and History
Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne and is led by John Ternus. Bayer was founded in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer, Johann Friedrich Weskott and is led by Bill Anderson.
Company facts
Founders
Apple
Steve Jobs
Apple Computer was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, who sold his 10% stake back to his partners for $800 twelve days later.
Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple and supplied the engineering foundation for its early success. He designed the Apple I as a working personal-computer board and then created the Apple II, the product that transformed Apple into a real company.
Ronald Wayne
Ronald Wayne co-founded Apple in 1976 but exited the partnership after only days, selling his stake back to Jobs and Wozniak.
Bayer
Friedrich Bayer
Bayer was founded in 1863 in Barmen, now part of Wuppertal, Germany, by two men with complementary skills: Friedrich Bayer, a dye merchant, and Johann Friedrich Weskott, a master dyer.
Johann Friedrich Weskott
Johann Friedrich Weskott was a German master dyer who co-founded what became Bayer. In 1863 he and his friend Friedrich Bayer, a dye salesman, formed Friedr. Bayer et comp. in Barmen, now part of Wuppertal, Germany.
CEOs and their tenures
Apple
- John Sculley1983–1993
CEO
Sculley, a Wharton MBA who had built his reputation running Pepsi's marketing organization, was recruited to Apple in 1983 after Steve Jobs asked him, 'Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?' Apple paid h…
Source - Gil Amelio1996–1997
CEO
Amelio built his reputation as a corporate turnaround specialist at Rockwell International and then as CEO of National Semiconductor, where he was credited with transforming it from a struggling third-tier chipmaker into a more respected competitor, before joi…
Source - Steve Jobs1997–2011
CEO
Jobs enrolled at Reed College but dropped out after six months, later working as a video-game designer at Atari before he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer in the Jobs family garage in 1976, funding the venture by selling Jobs's Volkswagen van and Wozni…
Source - Tim Cook2011–2026
CEO
Cook earned an industrial-engineering degree from Auburn University and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business, then spent 12 years at IBM's personal-computer business before serving as COO of the reseller division at Intelligent Electronics and briefly a…
Source - John Ternus2026–present
CEO
Before becoming CEO, Ternus was Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, the group responsible for the engineering of Apple's devices. Cook described his contributions to Apple as spanning 25 years when the succession was announced.
Source
Bayer
- Werner Wenning2002–2010
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management
Wenning led Bayer from April 2002 to September 30, 2010. He took over months after the worldwide withdrawal of the cholesterol drug Baycol and spent his early years settling the claims that followed.
Source - Marijn Dekkers2010–2016
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management
Dekkers was CEO from October 1, 2010 to April 30, 2016 and the first Bayer chief executive hired from outside the company. He narrowed Bayer to life sciences: in 2014 Bayer bought the consumer care business of Merck and Co.
Source - Werner Baumann2016–2023
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management
Baumann became CEO in May 2016 and retired at the end of May 2023 after 35 years at Bayer. His defining decision was the acquisition of Monsanto, completed on June 7, 2018 at USD 128 per share, about USD 63 billion in total.
Source - Bill Anderson2023–present
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management
Anderson, a chemical engineer who previously ran Roche's pharmaceuticals division and Genentech, joined Bayer's Board of Management on April 1, 2023 and became CEO on June 1, 2023.
Source
Timeline: Apple and Bayer side by side
1863Bayer
Bayer Founded in Barmen, Germany
Friedrich Bayer and Johann Friedrich Weskott entered Friedrich Bayer et. Compagnie into the commercial register in Barmen, Germany, on August 1, 1863, to make synthetic fuchsine and aniline dyes for the textile industry using the new coal-tar chemistry.
1898Bayer
Heroin Marketed as a Cough Suppressant
Bayer began selling diacetylmorphine under the trademark Heroin as a cough suppressant and a supposedly non-addictive substitute for morphine. It stayed in Bayer's range until after World War I, long after its addictiveness was understood.
1899Bayer
Aspirin Registered as a Trademark
The Bayer chemist Felix Hoffmann had synthesized acetylsalicylic acid in a stable, pure form in 1897, and Bayer registered the trademark Aspirin on March 6, 1899. It became the first mass-market synthetic medicine and is still one of the most widely used.
1903Bayer
Veronal Barbiturate Sleep Aid Launched
Bayer licensed diethylbarbituric acid from Emil Fischer and Joseph von Mering and sold it as Veronal, the first barbiturate sleep aid.
1912Bayer
Headquarters Moved to Leverkusen
Under Carl Duisberg, Bayer moved its main chemical plant and head office to Leverkusen on the Rhine, building one of the largest industrial chemical sites in Europe. Leverkusen is still the group headquarters.
1918Bayer
US Assets Confiscated During World War I
Bayer's US assets and trademarks, including the Aspirin trademark, were confiscated by the Alien Property Custodian and sold to Sterling Products. Bayer lost its largest export market and the right to its own name in North America for decades.
1925Bayer
Merger into IG Farben
Bayer merged with BASF, Hoechst, Agfa and other German chemical companies to form IG Farbenindustrie AG, then the largest chemical and pharmaceutical group in the world. IG Farben's role in the Nazi war effort led the Allies to dissolve it after World War II.
1932Bayer
Prontosil Discovered by Gerhard Domagk
Gerhard Domagk, leading a research team in the Bayer laboratories, developed Prontosil, the first sulfonamide antibacterial and the forerunner of modern antibiotics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1939 for the work.
1951Bayer
Re-established After the IG Farben Dissolution
Bayer was reincorporated as Farbenfabriken Bayer AG in 1951 after the Allied dissolution of IG Farben and rebuilt as an independent chemical and pharmaceutical company during West Germany's post-war recovery.
1976Apple
Apple is founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, turning an early personal-computer board into a company with a product and a market.
Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple in 1976, when personal computing was still a hobbyist market.
1977Apple
The Apple II launches and gives the young company an expandable personal computer for schools, homes, and small businesses.
The Apple II turned a garage project into a business. Color graphics, expansion slots and a consumer-friendly design carried it into schools, homes and small offices, giving Apple a revenue base years before the Macintosh.
1980Apple
Apple completes its initial public offering in December 1980, raising capital and turning personal computing into a public-market story.
The December 1980 IPO gave Apple public-market capital and made personal computing look like a serious commercial category. It also raised the pressure to professionalize management, distribution and product planning as the company outgrew its founding team.
1984Apple
The Macintosh introduces a graphical interface and mouse-driven computing to a broad audience at a $2,495 launch price.
The Macintosh brought a graphical interface and a mouse to a mass-market computer and defined Apple's design identity.
1994Bayer
US Bayer Trademark Rights Reclaimed
Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's over-the-counter drug business from SmithKline Beecham for about USD 1 billion, recovering the US and Canadian rights to the Bayer name and the Bayer Cross confiscated in 1918, plus the Aspirin trademark in Canada.
1997Apple
Apple completes the NeXT acquisition, bringing Steve Jobs back and supplying the operating-system foundation for the years that followed.
Apple's NeXT acquisition brought Steve Jobs back when the company was financially weak and unfocused.
2001Apple
Apple introduces the iPod on October 23, 2001, a 5GB music player priced at $399 that held about 1,000 songs.
The iPod put a hard-drive music library in a pocket at $399 and went on sale on November 10, 2001.
2001Bayer
Baycol Withdrawn Worldwide
Bayer voluntarily withdrew its cholesterol drug Baycol, sold as Lipobay outside the United States, in August 2001 after cases of fatal rhabdomyolysis, particularly at higher doses and in combination with gemfibrozil.
2006Bayer
Schering AG Acquired for About EUR 17 Billion
Bayer acquired Schering AG of Berlin for about $19.2 billion (EUR 17 billion) after counter-bidding against a hostile approach from Merck KGaA, adding the Mirena contraceptive franchise, oncology assets and a European pharmaceutical sales force.
2007Apple
The iPhone is introduced as a phone, widescreen iPod, and internet communicator, moving Apple into the center of mobile computing.
The iPhone moved Apple into mobile computing and shifted the company's center of gravity away from the Mac. It also created the hardware base that later supported services, accessories and developer economics.
2008Apple
The App Store opens with 500 apps, creating a controlled software marketplace that becomes a major Services pillar.
The App Store launched with 500 apps and gave iPhone owners a single, controlled way to install third-party software.
2011Apple
Tim Cook becomes chief executive on August 24, 2011, after Steve Jobs resigns and the board names Cook to succeed him.
Apple's board named Tim Cook chief executive on August 24, 2011, when Steve Jobs resigned and recommended the succession plan be carried out.
2014Apple
Apple agrees to acquire Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion, its largest deal.
Apple agreed to buy Beats Music and Beats Electronics for a total of $3 billion, about $2.6 billion in purchase price plus roughly $400 million vesting over time, and brought in founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.
2014Bayer
Merck Consumer Care Acquired for USD 14.2 Billion
Bayer closed the purchase of the consumer care business of Merck and Co. on October 1, 2014 for USD 14.2 billion in cash, adding Claritin, Coppertone and Dr. Scholl's and making Bayer one of the largest non-prescription medicine companies in the world.
2015Bayer
Covestro Spin-off
Bayer listed its materials science division as Covestro through an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ending its presence in plastics and polymers and leaving a group focused on pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science.
2018Bayer
Monsanto Acquisition Completed for About USD 63 Billion
Bayer completed the acquisition of Monsanto on June 7, 2018, paying USD 128 per share, about USD 63 billion in total, the largest foreign acquisition by a German company.
2020Apple
Apple announces the Mac transition to Apple silicon, deepening control over performance, power efficiency, and software optimization.
Apple began moving Mac computers off Intel processors and onto its own M-series chips in 2020.
2020Bayer
USD 10.9 Billion Roundup Settlement
Bayer agreed to pay about USD 10.9 billion to settle roughly 113,000 Roundup claims while continuing to maintain that glyphosate does not cause cancer. The programme did not end the litigation and new claims kept arriving.
2023Bayer
Bill Anderson Becomes CEO
Werner Baumann retired at the end of May 2023 after 35 years at Bayer. Bill Anderson, previously head of Roche's pharmaceuticals division and of Genentech, joined the Board of Management in April and became CEO on June 1, 2023.
2024Apple
Vision Pro launches at $3,499 and gives Apple a shipping platform for spatial interfaces, sensors, and custom silicon.
Vision Pro gave Apple a live platform for spatial interfaces, eye and hand input, high-resolution displays and custom chips.
2024Bayer
Dynamic Shared Ownership Rolled Out
Bayer began introducing the Dynamic Shared Ownership operating model, replacing layers of middle management with self-directed teams.
2025Bayer
Nubeqa Approved in the US for Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
The FDA approved Nubeqa (darolutamide) in June 2025 for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, a third indication, followed by EU authorization in July 2025.
2026Apple
John Ternus becomes chief executive on September 1, 2026, and Tim Cook becomes executive chairman.
John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, became chief executive on September 1, 2026, and Tim Cook became executive chairman after 15 years as CEO.
2026Bayer
Supreme Court Preemption Ruling and Proposed USD 7.25 Billion Roundup Class Settlement
In February 2026 Monsanto proposed a US nationwide class settlement funded by declining annual payments of up to USD 7.25 billion over as long as 21 years, which received preliminary approval in March 2026.
Acquisitions
Bayer
- Monsanto Company2018$63B
- Merck Consumer Care2014$14.2B
- Schering AG2006$21.2B
- Sterling Winthrop OTC Business1994$1B
Questions about Apple vs Bayer
Who is the CEO of Apple Inc. and Bayer AG?
Apple Inc. is led by John Ternus and Bayer AG is led by Bill Anderson. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Apple Inc. founded vs Bayer AG?
Bayer AG was founded in 1863 — 113 years before Apple Inc., which was founded in 1976. Bayer AG's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Apple Inc..
How many employees does Apple Inc. have compared to Bayer AG?
Apple Inc. employs approximately 166,000 people, while Bayer AG employs approximately 88,078. Apple Inc. has the larger workforce at 166,000 employees, compared to Bayer AG's 88,078. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Apple Inc. and Bayer AG headquartered?
Apple Inc. is headquartered in United States and Bayer AG is headquartered in Germany. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Apple Inc. and Bayer AG?
Apple Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne. Bayer AG was founded by Friedrich Bayer, Johann Friedrich Weskott.
Which company has a longer operating history — Apple Inc. or Bayer AG?
Bayer AG has been operating for approximately 163 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Apple Inc. has been in operation for around 50 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Apple vs Bayer overview