Coca-Cola vs Hitachi: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Coca-Cola and Hitachi side by side

1. 1892Coca-Cola

   The Coca-Cola Company Founded

   Asa Griggs Candler incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1892 after acquiring rights connected to John Pemberton's original formula.

2. 1899Coca-Cola

   National Bottling Rights Granted

   In 1899, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead secured rights to bottle Coca-Cola across much of the United States. The deal looked less important than the fountain business at first, but it became the foundation of Coca-Cola's physical reach.

3. 1910Hitachi

   Founding and First Induction Motor

   Namihei Odaira establishes the machinery repair shop that becomes Hitachi, and develops Japan's first 5-horsepower induction motor, establishing the foundation for the company's dominance in electrical engineering.

4. 1915Coca-Cola

   Contour Bottle Introduced

   Coca-Cola introduced the contour bottle design in 1915 to make the product recognizable and harder to imitate. At a time when copycat colas were common, the bottle gave consumers a visual and tactile cue that they were buying the real product.

5. 1919Coca-Cola

   Company Sold for $25 Million

   In 1919, the Candler family sold Coca-Cola to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff for $25 million. The transaction signaled that Coca-Cola had become a valuable national business rather than a regional success.

6. 1928Coca-Cola

   Olympic Sponsorship Begins

   Coca-Cola began its Olympic sponsorship in 1928, linking the brand to international sport and public celebration. The partnership mattered because it gave Coca-Cola a platform that crossed language and national boundaries.

7. 1932Hitachi

   Expansion into Railway Technology

   Hitachi begins manufacturing electric locomotives and rail signaling systems, establishing a deep, institutionalized relationship with the Japanese national railway network that would evolve into the modern Hitachi Rail division.

8. 1959Hitachi

   Entry into Computing and Electronics

   Hitachi develops its first electronic computer, the HITAC, marking the company's strategic entry into the information technology sector and laying the groundwork for its future digital systems business.

9. 1985Coca-Cola

   New Coke Reversal

   Coca-Cola introduced New Coke in 1985 after taste tests suggested a sweeter formula could compete more effectively with Pepsi. Consumers rejected the change because the original product had emotional and cultural value beyond flavor.

10. 2008Coca-Cola

    Muhtar Kent Becomes CEO

    Muhtar Kent became CEO in 2008 during a period when emerging markets, bottler alignment, and category diversification were becoming more important.

11. 2009Coca-Cola

    Freestyle Fountain System Unveiled

    Coca-Cola unveiled Freestyle in 2009, giving foodservice customers a fountain dispenser with more than 100 beverage choices.

12. 2009Hitachi

    Record Annual Loss

    Hitachi reported a net loss of about 787 billion yen for the year to March 2009, then the largest by a Japanese manufacturer.

13. 2016Hitachi

    Toshiaki Higashihara becomes CEO

    Toshiaki Higashihara became CEO of Hitachi in 2016. Shifted Hitachi from a sprawling conglomerate toward infrastructure and digital businesses.

14. 2017Coca-Cola

    Topo Chico Joins the Portfolio

    Coca-Cola acquired Topo Chico in 2017, adding a premium sparkling mineral water brand sourced from Cerro del Topo Chico in northern Mexico.

15. 2017Coca-Cola

    James Quincey Becomes CEO

    James Quincey became CEO in 2017 and accelerated the push toward a total beverage strategy. He emphasized revenue growth management, zero-sugar products, refranchising discipline, and fewer but stronger brands.

16. 2019Coca-Cola

    Costa Coffee Acquisition

    Coca-Cola completed the Costa Coffee acquisition in 2019, adding a coffee platform with retail stores, Costa Express vending, for-home formats, and ready-to-drink potential.

17. 2020Hitachi

    Acquisition of ABB's Power Grids Business

    Hitachi executes the $11 billion acquisition of ABB's Power Grids business, renaming it Hitachi Energy and instantly establishing the company as the global leader in HVDC transmission and grid infrastructure.

18. 2021Coca-Cola

    BodyArmor Full Acquisition

    Coca-Cola acquired full control of BodyArmor in 2021 in a transaction valued at about $5.6 billion for the remaining stake. The deal deepened Coca-Cola's position in sports drinks, a category long led by PepsiCo's Gatorade.

19. 2021Hitachi

    Acquisition of GlobalLogic

    The company acquires the global digital engineering firm GlobalLogic for $9.6 billion, instantly establishing Hitachi as a top-tier provider of advanced software and product design services for the automotive and telecommunications sectors.

20. 2022Hitachi

    Hitachi Construction Machinery Stake Sale

    Hitachi sold a controlling stake in Hitachi Construction Machinery to Itochu and Japan Industrial Partners, part of its exit from cyclical listed subsidiaries.

21. 2023Coca-Cola

    $45.8B Revenue

    In FY2023, Coca-Cola reported $45.8 billion in revenue, continuing its recovery from the pandemic-era decline in away-from-home channels.

22. 2024Coca-Cola

    $47.1B Revenue

    In FY2024, Coca-Cola reported $47.1 billion in revenue, with organic performance supported heavily by price/mix and concentrate sales timing.

23. 2024Hitachi

    Acquired Thales Ground Transportation Systems

    Hitachi acquired Thales Ground Transportation Systems. Hitachi Rail completed its ~$1.88 billion (EUR 1.66 billion) acquisition of Thales's Ground Transportation Systems business, its rail signalling division, expanding Hitachi Rail to 51 countries and shiftin…

24. 2025Coca-Cola

    $47.9B Revenue and 65,900 Employees

    In FY2025, Coca-Cola reported $47.9 billion in revenue and $13.1 billion in net income. Its 2025 Form 10-K listed about 65,900 company employees at year-end, down from about 69,700 in 2024 because of divestiture activity.

25. 2025Hitachi

    Toshiaki Tokunaga Becomes CEO

    Toshiaki Tokunaga became President and CEO on April 1, 2025, succeeding Keiji Kojima, who became Executive Chairman.

26. 2026Hitachi

    Record Results and Home Appliance Sale

    Hitachi reported record FY2025 profit in April 2026 and agreed to sell 80.1% of its home appliance business to Nojima for about $737 million (¥110 billion).

Acquisitions

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