Baker Hughes vs BYD: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Baker Hughes and BYD side by side

1. 1907Baker Hughes

   Reuben C. Baker patents the Well Casing Shoe

   On July 16, 1907, Reuben Carlton Baker was granted U.S. Patent No. 860,115 for the Well Casing Shoe, a device that kept oil flowing while casing was run into a well.

2. 1909Baker Hughes

   Howard R. Hughes Sr. patents the two-cone roller drill bit

   Howard R. Hughes Sr., working with Walter B. Sharp, tested a dual-cone roller bit on a rig at Goose Creek, Texas, and was granted U.S. patents on August 10, 1909.

3. 1913Baker Hughes

   Baker Casing Shoe Company founded in Coalinga, California

   Baker created the Baker Casing Shoe Company to manufacture and license his casing accessories. The design of the Baker casing shoe stayed essentially unchanged for about 40 years and the business became a pillar of the emerging oilfield service sector.

4. 1915Baker Hughes

   Sharp-Hughes renamed Hughes Tool Company

   Walter B. Sharp died in 1912 and Hughes acquired his partner stake. The business was renamed Hughes Tool Company in 1915. Its rock bits funded the fortune later inherited by Howard Hughes Jr.

5. 1928Baker Hughes

   Baker Casing Shoe Company renamed Baker Oil Tools

   The company was renamed Baker Oil Tools, Inc. as it widened its range from casing shoes into well completion and production equipment.

6. 1976Baker Hughes

   Baker Oil Tools reorganised as Baker International Corporation

   The Baker businesses were reorganised under the Baker International Corporation holding company, the entity that would merge with Hughes Tool eleven years later.

7. 1987Baker Hughes

   Baker International and Hughes Tool merge to form Baker Hughes Incorporated

   The merger was formally completed in early April 1987 once a Justice Department consent decree was signed and filed, and the Los Angeles Times reported the combination at about $1.2 billion. James D.

8. 1990Baker Hughes

   Baker Hughes buys Eastman Christensen

   Baker Hughes acquired Eastman Christensen, a specialist in directional drilling equipment and measurement-while-drilling tools. The capability became the core of what is now the Well Construction product line.

9. 1995BYD

   BYD founded in Shenzhen

   Wang Chuanfu and his cousin Lu Xiangyang start BYD in Shenzhen with about 20 employees, making rechargeable batteries for mobile phones.

10. 1998Baker Hughes

    Baker Hughes acquires Western Atlas in a $5.5 billion merger

    Baker Hughes and Western Atlas signed a definitive merger agreement valued at $5.5 billion in May 1998, adding seismic acquisition, wireline logging and reservoir evaluation. The Western Atlas wireline division became Baker Atlas.

11. 2000Baker Hughes

    Michael E. Wiley becomes chairman, president and chief executive

    After Max L. Lukens resigned in January 2000 and director Joe B. Foster served as interim chairman, president and chief executive, Baker Hughes named former ARCO executive Michael Wiley as president, chairman and chief executive effective August 14, 2000.

12. 2000BYD

    Becomes a leading NiCd battery maker

    BYD becomes one of the world's largest makers of nickel-cadmium batteries, supplying major electronics brands.

13. 2002BYD

    Hong Kong listing

    BYD lists its H shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under stock code 1211.

14. 2003BYD

    Buys Qinchuan and enters the car business

    BYD acquires a controlling stake in Xi'an Qinchuan Automobile for about $37.4 million (CN¥269 million), gaining a car production licence and factory.

15. 2006Baker Hughes

    Baker Hughes exits the WesternGeco seismic joint venture

    Schlumberger bought the Baker Hughes 30% interest in the WesternGeco seismic joint venture for $2.4 billion, ending the partnership formed in 2000 and removing seismic acquisition from the Baker Hughes portfolio.

16. 2007Baker Hughes

    Baker Hughes pays $44.1 million to settle Kazakhstan bribery charges

    On April 26, 2007, subsidiary Baker Hughes Services International pleaded guilty to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations and paid an $11 million criminal fine for payments routed to an official in connection with the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan.

17. 2008BYD

    Berkshire Hathaway takes about 10%

    Berkshire Hathaway's MidAmerican Energy invests $232 million for about 10% of BYD, giving the company international credibility.

18. 2008BYD

    Launches the F3DM plug-in hybrid

    BYD launches the F3DM, the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid car, two years before the Chevrolet Volt.

19. 2010Baker Hughes

    Baker Hughes completes the $5.5 billion BJ Services acquisition

    Baker Hughes closed its cash-and-stock acquisition of pressure pumping and cementing company BJ Services on April 28, 2010. The Justice Department required the divestiture of BJ vessel-based stimulation assets in the U.S.

20. 2010BYD

    Denza joint venture with Daimler

    BYD and Daimler set up Denza as a 50:50 joint venture to build premium electric cars in China.

21. 2011BYD

    Launches the e6 and lists in Shenzhen

    BYD launches the e6 electric crossover, first used as a taxi in Shenzhen, and lists A shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (002594).

22. 2014Baker Hughes

    Halliburton agrees to buy Baker Hughes for $34.6 billion

    On November 17, 2014, Halliburton and Baker Hughes announced a definitive stock-and-cash agreement valued at $34.6 billion. The deal drew antitrust review in the United States and Europe almost immediately.

23. 2016Baker Hughes

    Halliburton deal abandoned and Halliburton pays a $3.5 billion fee

    The Justice Department sued on April 6, 2016, to block the combination. The companies terminated the merger agreement on May 1, 2016, and Halliburton paid Baker Hughes the $3.5 billion termination fee by May 4, 2016.

24. 2017Baker Hughes

    Baker Hughes combines with GE Oil and Gas; Lorenzo Simonelli becomes CEO

    The combination closed on July 3, 2017, creating Baker Hughes, a GE company. Baker Hughes shareholders received a special cash dividend of $17.50 per share and 37.5% of the new company, with GE holding 62.5%.

25. 2019Baker Hughes

    Company renamed Baker Hughes Company and GE drops below a majority stake

    GE sold shares in September 2019 for about $2.7 billion in net proceeds, cutting its holding to roughly 38.4%.

26. 2020BYD

    Launches the Blade Battery

    BYD introduces the Blade Battery, an LFP cell-to-pack design that passes the nail penetration test without fire.

27. 2021Baker Hughes

    Stock listing moves from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq

    Baker Hughes announced on October 27, 2021 that it would move its Class A common stock and listed bonds to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and trading there began on December 7, 2021 under the same BKR ticker.

28. 2022Baker Hughes

    GE ownership ends and Baker Hughes suspends most Russian activity

    The 2022 Form 10-K states that GE no longer had an economic interest in Baker Hughes Holdings LLC as of December 31, 2022, down from 11.4% a year earlier.

29. 2022BYD

    Ends combustion-only car production

    In March 2022 BYD stops making combustion-only passenger cars and focuses entirely on battery EVs and plug-in hybrids.

30. 2023BYD

    Passes Tesla in quarterly BEV sales

    BYD sells 3.02 million new energy vehicles in 2023, and its 526,409 battery EVs in the fourth quarter top Tesla's 484,507 for the first time in a quarter.

31. 2024BYD

    Takes full ownership of Denza

    Mercedes-Benz sells its last 10% of Denza in July 2024, leaving BYD as the sole shareholder of its premium brand.

32. 2025Baker Hughes

    Record FY2025 adjusted EBITDA, orders and free cash flow

    Revenue was $27.733B, roughly flat against $27.829B in 2024, with attributable net income of $2.588B. Adjusted EBITDA reached a record $4,825M, orders a record $29,585M including a record $14,871M at IET, and free cash flow a record $2,732M.

33. 2025BYD

    Berkshire Hathaway exits

    Berkshire Hathaway confirms in September 2025 that it has sold its entire BYD stake, ending a 17-year investment.

34. 2025BYD

    Becomes the world's top battery EV seller

    BYD sells 2.26 million battery EVs in 2025 against Tesla's 1.64 million, and 4.6 million new energy vehicles in total.

35. 2026Baker Hughes

    Chart Industries acquired and two businesses divested

    Baker Hughes completed its $13.6 billion acquisition of Chart Industries on July 16, 2026 and set it up as a third reporting segment led by senior vice president Jim Apostolides, targeting $325 million of annualised cost synergies within three years.

36. 2026BYD

    Unveils Blade Battery 2.0 and FLASH charging

    On March 5, 2026 BYD unveils the second-generation Blade Battery, which charges from 10% to 70% in about five minutes, and plans 20,000 FLASH charging stations in China by the end of 2026.

37. 2026BYD

    Overseas revenue passes China

    In the first half of 2026 BYD's overseas revenue of ~$25.2 billion (CN¥181.3 billion) exceeds revenue from China for the first time, even as group revenue falls 7.1% to ~$47.9 billion (CN¥344.8 billion).

Acquisitions

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