Johnson and Johnson History

This article was written by Phineas Upham

Johnson and Johnson is listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and it brings in an estimated $65 billion in sales each year. The company manufactures medical devices and consumer goods, including soap and a tuberculosis drug.

Robert Wood Johnson founded the company with his brothers in 1886 after hearing a speech from prominent anti-septic advocate Joseph Lister. The brothers sought to create a line of surgical products that were ready to use, and produced its first offerings by 1886. The initial products sold well, leading to incorporation in 1887.

Robert Wood Johnson was the company’s first president, and his aim was to improve the sanitation practices of nineteenth century hospitals and homes. His brother James succeeded him after his death in 1910, and then James was succeeded by his son Robert Wood Johnson II.

Johnson and Johnson does not only produce pharmaceutical and consumer goods, it also holds a staggering amount of Internet domains. The company purchased roughly 29,000 domains from 1996 to 2000. These domains were all high profile real estate around the Web, one of the more well-known ones being babypowder.com.

The company has headquarters in Brunswick, New Jersey, and a consumer division in Skillman. It holds 250 subsidiaries under its name, and sells its products in 175 countries around the world. In 2008, Johnson and Johnson was named the world’s most respected company by Barron’s Magazine. It also received an award from the US State Department for its work funding international education programs.