Apple vs Roche: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Apple and Roche side by side

1. 1896Roche

   F. Hoffmann-La Roche Founded in Basel

   Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche founds the enterprise in Basel, Switzerland, pioneering mass-manufactured, chemically standardized prescription pharmaceuticals.

2. 1898Roche

   Commercial Breakthrough with Sirolin

   Roche launches non-prescription cough syrup Sirolin, achieving widespread international distribution and financing early clinical laboratories.

3. 1934Roche

   First Industrial Synthesis of Vitamin C

   Roche becomes the first company to mass-produce synthetic Vitamin C (Redoxon) at industrial scale, anchoring decades of high-margin global cash flow.

4. 1963Roche

   Launch of Valium (Diazepam)

   Roche introduces Valium, which becomes the world's most widely prescribed psychotropic medication and establishes global pharmaceutical leadership.

5. 1968Roche

   Establishment of Roche Diagnostics

   Roche launches its dedicated diagnostic division, laying the foundation to become the world's preeminent in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) provider.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 2008Roche

    Severin Schwan becomes CEO

    Severin Schwan became CEO of F. Hoffmann-La Roche in 2008. Led Roche for 14 years; handed over to Thomas Schinecker in March 2023 and became chairman.

15. 2009Roche

    Full Acquisition of Genentech for $46.8 Billion

    Roche completes its historic $46.8 billion buyout of American biotechnology pioneer Genentech, securing market leadership in oncology biologics.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 2018Roche

    Foundation Medicine & Flatiron Health Acquisitions

    Roche acquires Foundation Medicine and Flatiron Health, integrating real-world oncology data analytics and genomic profiling into personalized healthcare.

19. 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.

20. 2023Roche

    Acquired Telavant

    F. Hoffmann-La Roche acquired Telavant for $7.1 billion. Roche paid $7.1 billion upfront for Telavant to gain US and Japan rights to the anti-TL1A antibody RVT-3101 (afimkibart) for inflammatory bowel disease.

21. 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.

22. 2025Roche

    Group Sales Reach CHF 61.5 Billion

    Under CEO Thomas Schinecker, Roche delivers group sales of ~$73.8 billion (CHF 61.5 billion), driven by ~$57.2B (CHF 47.7B) in Pharmaceuticals and ~$16.6B (CHF 13.8B) in Diagnostics.

23. 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.

Acquisitions

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