Cardinal Health vs Unilever: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Cardinal Health and Unilever side by side

1. 1884Unilever

   Lever soap factory opens

   William Hesketh Lever built the Port Sunlight soap business that became a key Unilever predecessor.

2. 1929Unilever

   Unilever created

   Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie merged to form Unilever.

3. 1929Unilever

   Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie Merge

   Lever Brothers and the Dutch Margarine Unie merged in 1929 to form Unilever.

4. 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.

5. 1979Cardinal Health

   Pivot to Pharmaceutical Distribution

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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 1984Unilever

   Acquired Brooke Bond

   Unilever acquired Brooke Bond in 1984 for ~$515 million (£390 million).

9. 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.

10. 1989Unilever

    Acquired Calvin Klein Cosmetics

    Unilever acquired Calvin Klein Cosmetics in 1989.

11. 1993Unilever

    Acquired Breyers

    Unilever acquired Breyers in 1993.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 2000Unilever

    Acquired Maille

    Unilever acquired Maille. Unilever acquired Maille in 2000.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 2019Unilever

    Alan Jope becomes CEO

    Alan Jope became CEO of Unilever in 2019. Jope simplified Unilever's legal structure and organisation, which made later portfolio separations easier.

21. 2020Unilever

    Legal structure unified

    Unilever moved to a single parent company structure after decades with British and Dutch holding companies.

22. 2020Unilever

    Single Parent Company

    Unilever unified its dual structure into a single parent company, Unilever PLC, in November 2020.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 2025Unilever

    Fernando Fernandez becomes CEO

    Fernando Fernandez was appointed CEO effective March 2025.

26. 2025Unilever

    Ice Cream demerger reflected

    Unilever reported 2025 results on a continuing-operations basis after the Ice Cream business demerger.

27. 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.

Acquisitions

Questions about Cardinal Health vs Unilever