Cardinal Health vs Oracle: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Cardinal Health and Oracle side by side

1. 1971Cardinal Health

   Cardinal Foods Founded by Robert D. Walter

   Robert D. Walter, a 26-year-old Harvard MBA graduate, borrowed $1.3 million to acquire the food-distribution division of Consolidated Foods in a leveraged buyout, establishing Cardinal Foods in Columbus, Ohio.

2. 1977Oracle

   Oracle Founded

   Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates founded the company that became Oracle.

3. 1979Cardinal Health

   Pivot to Pharmaceutical Distribution

   Walter acquired Bailey Drug Co., a pharmaceutical distributor in Zanesville, Ohio, marking Cardinal's entry into pharmaceutical distribution.

4. 1983Cardinal Health

   Cardinal Distribution Goes Public

   Cardinal Distribution Inc. completed its initial public offering on the NASDAQ at $1.03 per share, providing capital for continued expansion through acquisitions.

5. 1984Cardinal Health

   Acquisition of Ellicott Drug

   Cardinal acquired Ellicott Drug, a pharmaceutical distributor in Buffalo, New York, continuing the acquisition-driven expansion strategy that would define the company's growth for decades.

6. 1986Oracle

   Oracle IPO

   Oracle went public on the Nasdaq in March 1986.

7. 1988Cardinal Health

   Sale of Food Operations to Roundy's Inc.

   Cardinal sold its remaining food operations to Roundy's Inc., completing the company's transition from a diversified food and drug distributor to a pure-play pharmaceutical distribution company.

8. 1994Cardinal Health

   Name Change to Cardinal Health

   The company changed its name from Cardinal Distribution to Cardinal Health, reflecting its expanding mission beyond pure distribution into healthcare services, manufacturing, and technology. Revenues exceeded $1 billion by 1991.

9. 1994Oracle

   Acquired Rdb

   Oracle acquired Rdb in 1994.

10. 1995Cardinal Health

    Acquisition of Medicine Shoppe International

    Cardinal acquired Medicine Shoppe International, the country's largest franchise of retail pharmacies, marking the company's first significant non-distribution acquisition and entry into retail pharmacy.

11. 1996Cardinal Health

    Acquisition of Pyxis Corp.

    Cardinal acquired Pyxis Corp., a manufacturer of automated supply and pharmaceutical dispensing systems for hospitals, adding medical technology capabilities to the company's portfolio.

12. 1999Cardinal Health

    Acquisition of Allegiance Healthcare Corp.

    Cardinal acquired Allegiance Healthcare Corp. for approximately $4.4 billion, becoming a major player in the medical-surgical products market and establishing the foundation for what would become the Global Medical Products and Distribution segment.

13. 2005Oracle

    Acquired PeopleSoft

    Oracle acquired PeopleSoft for $10.3 billion. Oracle acquired PeopleSoft to significantly expand its enterprise applications portfolio and compete more directly with SAP.

14. 2008Oracle

    Acquired BEA Systems

    Oracle acquired BEA Systems for $8.5 billion. Oracle acquired BEA Systems to strengthen middleware, application server, and enterprise integration capabilities.

15. 2010Oracle

    Sun Microsystems Acquisition

    Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, adding Java, Solaris, and hardware assets.

16. 2013Cardinal Health

    Red Oak Sourcing Joint Venture with CVS

    Cardinal Health and CVS Caremark announced the creation of Red Oak Sourcing, a 50/50 joint venture to form the largest generic pharmaceutical sourcing entity in the United States. The venture began operations in July 2014 with an initial 10-year term.

17. 2014Cardinal Health

    Loss of Walgreens Contract

    Cardinal Health lost a major pharmaceutical distribution contract with Walgreens, which shifted its distribution to AmerisourceBergen. The contract had generated $3.3 billion in quarterly revenue.

18. 2014Oracle

    Ellison Steps Down as CEO

    Larry Ellison stepped down as chief executive in September 2014, and Mark Hurd and Safra Catz became co-CEOs.

19. 2016Oracle

    Acquired NetSuite

    Oracle acquired NetSuite for $9.3 billion. Oracle acquired NetSuite to strengthen its cloud-native ERP portfolio and reach mid-sized companies that were not ideal buyers for Oracle's traditional enterprise applications.

20. 2017Cardinal Health

    Acquisition of Patient Recovery Business from Medtronic

    Cardinal Health acquired the Patient Recovery business from Medtronic for $6.1 billion, expanding its medical products portfolio and adding significant scale to the Global Medical Products and Distribution segment.

21. 2022Oracle

    Cerner Acquisition Completed

    Oracle completed the Cerner acquisition and expanded into healthcare data systems.

22. 2024Cardinal Health

    OptumRx Contract Non-Renewal Announced

    Cardinal Health's pharmaceutical distribution contracts with OptumRx (part of UnitedHealth Group) expired at the end of June 2024 and were not renewed. They represented about $38.1 billion of fiscal 2024 revenue.

23. 2025Cardinal Health

    Fiscal 2025 Results and Raised FY2026 Guidance

    Cardinal Health reported fiscal 2025 revenue of $222.6 billion, down about 2% after the OptumRx contract expiration, while net earnings rose to about $1.6 billion.

24. 2025Oracle

    Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia Named CEOs

    Oracle promoted Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia to Chief Executive Officers; Safra Catz became Executive Vice Chair.

25. 2026Cardinal Health

    Fiscal 2026 Revenue Reaches $254.2 Billion

    Fiscal 2026 revenue rose 14% to $254.2 billion and non-GAAP EPS rose 37% to $11.26, with profit growth in all five operating segments.

26. 2026Oracle

    $67.357B FY2026 Revenue

    Oracle reported record FY2026 total revenue of $67.357 billion.

27. 2026Oracle

    Q1 FY2027: $664B RPO

    Oracle reported Q1 FY2027 revenue of $19.3B and RPO of $664B, and completed a $20B at-the-market common stock sale.

Acquisitions

Questions about Cardinal Health vs Oracle