Bausch Health vs SpaceX: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Bausch Health and SpaceX side by side

1. 1959Bausch Health

   Milan Panic founds ICN Pharmaceuticals

   Milan Panic, a Yugoslav immigrant to California, founded ICN Pharmaceuticals in 1959 and ran it for four decades. ICN is the predecessor of Valeant Pharmaceuticals and of today's Bausch Health.

2. 1994Bausch Health

   Biovail Corporation International formed in Canada

   On March 29, 1994 Eugene Melnyk consolidated his Canadian drug-delivery business by amalgamating Trimel Corporation with its subsidiary to create Biovail Corporation International, the legal entity that files today as Bausch Health Companies Inc.

3. 2002SpaceX

   SpaceX is founded

   Elon Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to reduce launch costs and make Mars settlement technically possible.

4. 2003Bausch Health

   ICN renames itself Valeant Pharmaceuticals

   ICN Pharmaceuticals, then based in Costa Mesa, California, took the Valeant Pharmaceuticals name in November 2003 to distance itself from the governance fights of the Panic era.

5. 2008Bausch Health

   J. Michael Pearson becomes chief executive

   Valeant appointed former McKinsey director J. Michael Pearson as chief executive effective February 1, 2008, succeeding Timothy C. Tyson. Pearson replaced internal research spending with debt-funded acquisitions of marketed drugs.

6. 2008SpaceX

   Falcon 1 reaches orbit

   Falcon 1 became the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit, rescuing SpaceX after three failed attempts.

7. 2010Bausch Health

   Biovail and Valeant complete their merger

   The merger of Biovail Corporation and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International closed on September 28, 2010. The combined company kept the Valeant name and Pearson as chief executive but was incorporated in Canada.

8. 2011Bausch Health

   Ortho Dermatologics bought from Johnson and Johnson

   Valeant agreed to acquire the U.S. Ortho Dermatologics assets from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson and Johnson company, for about $345M in cash, building the dermatology franchise.

9. 2012SpaceX

   Dragon reaches the ISS

   Dragon became the first private spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station, proving SpaceX could serve NASA cargo missions.

10. 2013Bausch Health

    Bausch + Lomb acquired for $8.7 billion

    Valeant agreed in May 2013 to buy eye-health company Bausch + Lomb from Warburg Pincus for $8.7B in cash, adding contact lenses, lens care, ophthalmic drugs and surgical devices.

11. 2015Bausch Health

    Salix acquisition closes at about $11.1 billion

    Valeant completed its tender offer for Salix Pharmaceuticals on April 1, 2015 at $173 per share, about $11.1B in equity value and roughly $15.8B including debt, gaining the Xifaxan franchise.

12. 2015Bausch Health

    Drug pricing and Philidor scandal breaks

    Congressional investigators pressed Valeant over 525% and 212% increases on the heart drugs Isuprel and Nitropress, bought in February 2015, and over its undisclosed ties to the Philidor mail-order pharmacy.

13. 2015SpaceX

    Falcon 9 booster landing

    SpaceX landed an orbital-class booster, establishing the technical base for reusable launch economics.

14. 2016Bausch Health

    Joseph Papa replaces Pearson as chief executive

    Valeant named Perrigo chief executive Joseph C. Papa as chairman and CEO on April 25, 2016, and he took over in early May 2016 with about $30B of debt outstanding.

15. 2017Bausch Health

    Skincare brands and Dendreon sold to cut debt

    Valeant sold the CeraVe, AcneFree and AMBI skincare brands to L'Oreal for about $1.3B and the Dendreon cancer unit to China's Sanpower Group for about $820M, using the proceeds to repay debt.

16. 2017SpaceX

    Orbital booster reflight

    SpaceX reflown an orbital-class booster, pushing reuse from demonstration into operating model.

17. 2018Bausch Health

    Company renamed Bausch Health Companies Inc.

    The name change from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. to Bausch Health Companies Inc. was completed on July 13, 2018, and the shares began trading as BHC on the NYSE and TSX on July 16, 2018.

18. 2020Bausch Health

    SEC settlement closes the Philidor accounting case

    On July 31, 2020 Bausch Health agreed to pay a $45M civil penalty to settle SEC charges of improper revenue recognition and misleading disclosures tied to Philidor. Former chief executive J. Michael Pearson and two other executives also settled.

19. 2020SpaceX

    Crew Dragon carries astronauts

    SpaceX became the first private company to carry astronauts to orbit, restoring U.S. crew launch capability.

20. 2021SpaceX

    Acquired Swarm Technologies

    SpaceX acquired Swarm Technologies.

21. 2022Bausch Health

    Bausch + Lomb listed on the NYSE and TSX

    Bausch + Lomb common stock began trading under the ticker BLCO on May 6, 2022, and a Bausch Health subsidiary sold 35,000,000 Bausch + Lomb shares in the offering. Bausch Health retained about 88% of the eye-health company and still consolidates it. Thomas J.

22. 2023SpaceX

    Starship flight testing begins

    SpaceX conducted the first integrated Starship flight test, starting the high-risk development cycle for its next launch system.

23. 2025Bausch Health

    DURECT acquired and record annual revenue reported

    Bausch Health closed the DURECT acquisition on September 11, 2025 for about $63M upfront, completed Solta Medical's Chinese aesthetics distribution purchase on December 1, 2025, and reported FY2025 revenue of $10.266B, up 7%, with net income attributable to Ba…

24. 2025SpaceX

    FY2025 revenue reaches $18.674B

    SpaceX reported $18.674B in FY2025 revenue and a $4.937B net loss in its 2026 prospectus.

25. 2026Bausch Health

    RED-C trials miss endpoints and trigger a $1.4 billion charge

    In January 2026 the two Phase 3 RED-C trials of amorphous-rifaximin soluble solid dispersion for primary prevention of hepatic encephalopathy missed their primary endpoints.

26. 2026Bausch Health

    Second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.85 billion and raised guidance

    Bausch Health reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.85B, up 13%, net income attributable to Bausch Health of $258M and adjusted EBITDA of $1.075B, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow guidance.

27. 2026SpaceX

    Prospectus lists SPCX and Starlink scale

    The 2026 prospectus described a Nasdaq listing under SPCX and about 10.3M Starlink subscribers as of March 31, 2026.

Acquisitions

Questions about Bausch Health vs SpaceX