Personal stories

With college basketball tournaments in full swing, we’re passing on company hoops history that dates back more than a century.

Frederick Shelton has spent 21 years engineering cutting-edge innovations to help propel medicine forward. On what would have been Thomas Edison’s 172nd birthday, this latter-day great American inventor shares the life-changing medical devices he’s most proud of designing.

The largest healthcare company in the world began as a simple partnership among three forward-thinking siblings. We explore the lasting impact James, Edward Mead and Robert Johnson, the company’s first president, had on Johnson & Johnson.

Born in 1845, Robert Wood Johnson I is best known for his pioneering innovations in sterile surgery and sanitary wound care. The company’s future-oriented focus, acceptance of women in professional roles and management for the long-term also have their origins with Johnson, whose founding ideals would later find expression in Our Credo, written by his son Robert Wood Johnson II.

The brother of Johnson & Johnson cofounders Robert Wood Johnson and James Wood Johnson, Edward Mead Johnson led the company’s sales and marketing division in the 19^th century. In 1898, Edward Mead left Johnson & Johnson, taking with him the company’s digestive products line, a business that would eventually become a leading global company in the field of infant and child nutrition.

Learn more about this Johnson & Johnson cofounder.

The company has been honored with a spot on the prestigious list for the 17th year in a row for its innovative spirit and commitment to social responsibility, among other respected attributes.

Check out this infographic breakdown of the company’s annual earnings report, with key performance highlights from its consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices businesses over the last year.