Honeywell vs Zebra Technologies: Founders, CEOs and History
Honeywell was founded in 1906 by Albert Butz, Mark C. Honeywell and is led by Vimal Kapur. Zebra Technologies was founded in 1969 by Edward Kaplan, Gerhard Cless and is led by Bill Burns.
Company facts
Honeywell
- Founded
- 1906
- Headquarters
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Current CEO
- Vimal Kapur
- Employees
- 50,000
Zebra Technologies
- Founded
- 1969
- Headquarters
- Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States
- Current CEO
- Bill Burns
- Employees
- 10,000
Founders
Honeywell
Albert Butz
Albert Butz was a Swiss-born American inventor whose work is the origin of Honeywell. In 1885 he patented the 'damper flapper', an early automatic thermostat mechanism for controlling indoor temperature.
Mark C. Honeywell
Mark C. Honeywell was an American industrialist who gave the company its name. He was a heating contractor, and in 1906 he founded the Honeywell Heating Specialty Company to make hot water heat generators.
Zebra Technologies
Edward Kaplan
Edward Kaplan co-founded Data Specialties (later Zebra Technologies) in 1969 with a $1,000 investment. He served as the company's CEO for 38 years, guiding its pivotal transition into the barcode printing industry and driving its highly successful 1991 IPO.
Gerhard Cless
Gerhard Cless co-founded Zebra Technologies alongside Ed Kaplan. As the primary engineering architect, he designed the company's first barcode printers, which fundamentally changed how massive global supply chains tracked inventory.
CEOs and their tenures
Honeywell
- Michael R. Bonsignore1999–2001
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
He agreed in 2000 to sell the company to General Electric. European regulators blocked the deal in July 2001 and he was replaced by Lawrence Bossidy.
Source - David M. Cote2002–2017
Chairman and CEO
Under Cote Honeywell grew its market value and margins, and he handed the chief executive role to Darius Adamczyk in 2017.
Source - Darius Adamczyk2017–2023
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Adamczyk oversaw $7.5 billion in strategic divestitures to modernize Honeywell's portfolio and built the software-and-services strategy that his successor, Vimal Kapur, used as the technical foundation for the 2025-2026 three-way breakup -- the Forge platform…
Source - Vimal Kapur2023–present
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Kapur is notable among major American industrial CEOs for reaching the top of a Fortune 500 company without a MBA or an US university degree.
Source
Zebra Technologies
- Edward L. Kaplan1969–2007
Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
He took Zebra public in 1991 and led it until 2007, when Anders Gustafsson succeeded him.
Source - Nathan Winters2021–present
CFO
As CFO, he heavily optimized the company's supply chain financing, ensuring liquidity during the massive inventory destocking by retail clients in 2023.
Source - Bill Burns2023–present
CEO
He manages the strategic pivot toward enterprise machine vision and AI-driven automation following Zebra's acquisition of Matrox Imaging.
Source
Timeline: Honeywell and Zebra Technologies side by side
1885Honeywell
Albert Butz Patents the Damper Flapper Thermostat
Albert Butz files his first automatic temperature-control patent and forms the Butz Thermo-Electric Regulator Company, creating the thermostat as a mass-market product for home furnaces.
1906Honeywell
Honeywell Heating Specialty Company Founded
Mark C. Honeywell founds a heating-equipment business in Wabash, Indiana, that will later merge into the Honeywell name.
1927Honeywell
Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company Formed
Mark Honeywell's heating business merges with the Electric Heat Regulator Company -- the descendant of Butz's original thermostat patents -- forming the direct ancestor of modern Honeywell, with W.R. Sweatt as chairman and Honeywell as president.
1969Zebra Technologies
Data Specialties founded
Edward Kaplan and Gerhard Cless founded the business that later became Zebra Technologies.
1986Zebra Technologies
Renamed Zebra Technologies
Data Specialties was renamed Zebra Technologies in 1986.
1991Zebra Technologies
Initial public offering
Zebra listed on Nasdaq as ZBRA.
1998Zebra Technologies
Eltron International Merger
Zebra merged with the printer maker Eltron International in 1998.
1999Honeywell
AlliedSignal and Honeywell Combine
AlliedSignal acquires Honeywell in a roughly $15 billion stock deal and keeps the Honeywell name for the combined aerospace, materials, and controls conglomerate.
2001Honeywell
General Electric Merger Blocked
The European Commission blocked General Electric's planned $42 billion purchase of Honeywell in July 2001.
2014Zebra Technologies
Motorola enterprise business acquired
Zebra bought Motorola Solutions' enterprise business for $3.45 billion.
2015Honeywell
Elster Acquired
Honeywell bought the metering business Elster from Melrose Industries in 2015 for about $5.1 billion.
2018Honeywell
Honeywell Forge Launched
then-CEO Darius Adamczyk launches Honeywell Connected Enterprise, which becomes Honeywell Forge, a cloud-based industrial IoT platform positioned as the company's top strategic priority for shifting toward recurring software revenue.
2020Zebra Technologies
Reflexis Systems Acquired
Zebra bought the workforce-management software company Reflexis Systems in 2020 for about $575 million.
2021Zebra Technologies
Fetch Robotics Acquired
Zebra bought the warehouse-robot maker Fetch Robotics in 2021 for about $290 million.
2022Zebra Technologies
Matrox Imaging acquired
Zebra acquired machine vision company Matrox Imaging for $875 million.
2023Zebra Technologies
Bill Burns becomes CEO
Bill Burns succeeded Anders Gustafsson as CEO.
2025Honeywell
Three-Way Breakup Announced
CEO Vimal Kapur announces a plan to split Honeywell into three independent public companies -- Aerospace, Solstice Advanced Materials, and automation-focused Honeywell Technologies -- following pressure from activist investor Elliott Management.
2025Honeywell
Advanced Materials Separated as Solstice
Honeywell completes the spin-off of its Advanced Materials business as the independent, Nasdaq-listed Solstice Advanced Materials on October 30, 2025.
2025Zebra Technologies
Elo acquisition
Zebra acquired Elo Touch Solutions.
2026Honeywell
Honeywell Aerospace Spin-Off Completed
Honeywell completes the Aerospace spin-off in June 2026, and the parent begins operating as the pure-play automation company Honeywell Technologies.
2026Honeywell
Quantinuum IPO
Quantinuum lists on Nasdaq as QNT, raising $1.68 billion at $60 per share; Honeywell deconsolidates it in Q2 2026.
2026Honeywell
Warehouse and PSS Businesses Sold
Honeywell Technologies sells Warehouse and Workflow Solutions (Intelligrated) to American Industrial Partners in July and PSS to Brady for $1.4 billion in August 2026.
Acquisitions
Honeywell
- Honeywell Aerospace spin-off2026Undisclosed
- Advanced Materials separation2025Undisclosed
- Access Solutions (Carrier Global)2024$5B
- Elster2015$5.1B
- Intermec2013$600M
- Hand Held Products2007Undisclosed
Zebra Technologies
- Elo Touch Solutions2025Undisclosed
- Matrox Imaging2022$875M
- Motorola Solutions' Enterprise Business2014$3.5B
Questions about Honeywell vs Zebra Technologies
Who is the CEO of Honeywell Technologies and Zebra Technologies Corporation?
Honeywell Technologies is led by Vimal Kapur and Zebra Technologies Corporation is led by Bill Burns. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Honeywell Technologies founded vs Zebra Technologies Corporation?
Honeywell Technologies was founded in 1906 — 63 years before Zebra Technologies Corporation, which was founded in 1969. Honeywell Technologies's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Zebra Technologies Corporation.
How many employees does Honeywell Technologies have compared to Zebra Technologies Corporation?
Honeywell Technologies employs approximately 50,000 people, while Zebra Technologies Corporation employs approximately 10,000. Honeywell Technologies has the larger workforce at 50,000 employees, compared to Zebra Technologies Corporation's 10,000. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Honeywell Technologies and Zebra Technologies Corporation headquartered?
Both Honeywell Technologies and Zebra Technologies Corporation are headquartered in United States. Their local rules and tax obligations may still differ.
Who founded Honeywell Technologies and Zebra Technologies Corporation?
Honeywell Technologies was founded by Albert Butz, Mark C. Honeywell. Zebra Technologies Corporation was founded by Edward Kaplan, Gerhard Cless.
Which company has a longer operating history — Honeywell Technologies or Zebra Technologies Corporation?
Honeywell Technologies has been operating for approximately 120 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Zebra Technologies Corporation has been in operation for around 57 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Honeywell vs Zebra Technologies overview