BNP Paribas vs Pfizer: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BNP Paribas and Pfizer side by side

1. 1848BNP Paribas

   Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris founded

   Created by decree in March 1848 to restart commercial credit after the February Revolution, with capital from private subscribers, the City of Paris and the State. It is the oldest root of the BNP side of the group.

2. 1849Pfizer

   Pfizer Founded

   Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart founded the company in Brooklyn.

3. 1860BNP Paribas

   First overseas branches in Shanghai and Calcutta

   The Comptoir opened branches in Shanghai and Calcutta, becoming the first French bank to build a branch network abroad from scratch, later adding Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and Sydney.

4. 1872BNP Paribas

   Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas formed

   The Banque de Paris, founded in 1869, merged on 27 January 1872 with Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim's Amsterdam-based Nederlandsche Credit- en Deposito Bank to create the investment bank later known as Paribas.

5. 1889BNP Paribas

   Comptoir rescued after the copper crash

   Losses on industrialist Eugène Secrétan's attempt to corner the copper market forced the Comptoir d'escompte de Paris into liquidation, backed by a 100-million-franc Banque de France advance. It was refounded in June 1889 as a deposit bank.

6. 1944Pfizer

   Penicillin Scale-Up

   Pfizer helped industrialize penicillin production during World War II.

7. 1966BNP Paribas

   Banque Nationale de Paris created

   Finance minister Michel Debré merged the state-owned CNEP and Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie (BNCI) to form Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP).

8. 1982BNP Paribas

   Paribas nationalised

   The Mauroy government nationalised Paribas, which adopted its telegraph address, Paribas, as its brand that year.

9. 1987BNP Paribas

   Paribas privatised

   The Chirac government returned Paribas to private ownership in January 1987.

10. 1993BNP Paribas

    BNP privatised

    BNP was privatised in October 1993 under chairman Michel Pébereau.

11. 1998Pfizer

    Viagra Approved

    The FDA approved Viagra in 1998.

12. 1999BNP Paribas

    Three-way takeover battle

    Société Générale bid for Paribas, and BNP answered with offers for both banks. BNP won control of Paribas but failed to take Société Générale.

13. 2000BNP Paribas

    BNP Paribas created

    The merger of BNP and Paribas was completed in May 2000, combining BNP's retail network with Paribas's investment banking.

14. 2000Pfizer

    Warner-Lambert Deal

    Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert, adding Lipitor.

15. 2001BNP Paribas

    Full ownership of BancWest

    BNP Paribas agreed to buy the 55% of BancWest, parent of Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank, that it did not already own for about $2.45 billion. The Federal Reserve approved the deal on 4 December 2001.

16. 2006BNP Paribas

    BNL acquired in Italy

    BNP Paribas bought Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, making Italy its second domestic retail market.

17. 2009BNP Paribas

    Fortis Bank acquired in Belgium

    In May 2009 BNP Paribas took control of Fortis Bank, now BNP Paribas Fortis, paying with new shares issued to the Belgian state and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It also bought 25% of AG Insurance for ~$1.55 billion (€1.375 billion).

18. 2014BNP Paribas

    US sanctions guilty plea

    BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in New York and agreed to pay about $8.9 billion for processing dollar transactions for Sudan, Iran and Cuba in breach of US sanctions.

19. 2019Pfizer

    Albert Bourla becomes CEO

    Albert Bourla became CEO of Pfizer in 2019. A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020.

20. 2020Pfizer

    BioNTech COVID Vaccine Partnership

    Pfizer and BioNTech brought Comirnaty through emergency authorization.

21. 2023BNP Paribas

    Bank of the West sold to BMO

    BNP Paribas completed the $16.3 billion cash sale of Bank of the West to BMO Financial Group on 1 February 2023, leaving US retail banking.

22. 2023Pfizer

    Seagen Acquisition

    Pfizer completed the $43 billion Seagen acquisition.

23. 2025BNP Paribas

    AXA Investment Managers acquired

    BNP Paribas Cardif completed the ~$5.76 billion (€5.1 billion) purchase of AXA IM on 1 July 2025 and signed a long-term partnership to manage a large part of AXA's assets.

24. 2025BNP Paribas

    Sudan jury verdict

    A Manhattan federal jury found BNP Paribas liable to three Sudanese refugees in October 2025 and awarded $20.75 million. The bank is appealing.

25. 2025Pfizer

    Chris Boshoff Becomes CSO

    Chris Boshoff became Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development effective January 1, 2025.

26. 2025Pfizer

    Metsera Acquisition

    Pfizer completed its acquisition of obesity drug developer Metsera in November 2025 for up to about $10 billion including CVRs.

27. 2025Pfizer

    FY2025 Revenue Base

    Pfizer reported $62.579 billion of FY2025 revenue.

28. 2026BNP Paribas

    Ageas partnership reset

    On 28 April 2026 BNP Paribas Fortis sold its 25% of AG Insurance to Ageas for ~$2.15 billion (€1.9 billion) and renewed their Belgian bancassurance partnership, while Cardif raised its Ageas stake to 22.5%.

29. 2026BNP Paribas

    Arval completes Athlon purchase

    Arval completed its purchase of Athlon from Mercedes-Benz Group on 31 July 2026, reaching a combined fleet of 2.3 million vehicles.

30. 2026Pfizer

    Innovent Oncology Collaboration

    Pfizer signed a 12-program cancer collaboration with Innovent Biologics: $650 million upfront and up to $9.85 billion in milestones.

Acquisitions

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