Healthcare · Profile from Healthcare Research Companion
Johnson & Johnson
The New Jersey surgical-dressings maker that became the world's largest and broadest healthcare products company, then spent the 2020s narrowing itself. J&J's history holds the most admired crisis response in corporate history (the 1982 Tylenol recall) and some of its most damaging failures: the McNeil recall crisis, the Risperdal and opioid cases, and more than a decade of baby-powder talc litigation that it tried three times to resolve through bankruptcy. In 2023 it spun off its consumer business as Kenvue; by 2026 it was a pure pharmaceutical ("Innovative Medicine") and MedTech company with ~$94bn of sales, preparing to separate its orthopaedics business.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1886, New Brunswick, New Jersey (incorporated 1887)
- Founders
- Brothers Robert Wood Johnson, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson (Edward left in 1897 to found Mead Johnson)
- Headquarters
- New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Ownership / structure
- Public company, NYSE: JNJ (listed 1944); widely held; decentralised structure of ~200+ operating companies historically
- Leadership (2026)
- Joaquin Duato, Chairman and CEO (CEO since January 2022); Joseph Wolk, CFO; Tim Schmid (MedTech); Tom Cavanaugh, Worldwide Chairman, Innovative Medicine from September 2026, succeeding the retiring Jennifer Taubert (Q3 2026 release); Namal Nawana, Worldwide President, DePuy Synthes (to lead the separated orthopaedics company)
- Segments
- Innovative Medicine (formerly Janssen): oncology (Darzalex, Carvykti, Erleada, Rybrevant), immunology (Stelara, Tremfya), neuroscience (Spravato, Caplyta), pulmonary hypertension (Opsumit, Uptravi). MedTech: orthopaedics (DePuy Synthes, separation planned), surgery (Ethicon), cardiovascular (Biosense Webster, Abiomed, Shockwave), vision
- Payer and patient
- Commercial plans and PBMs, Medicare Part B and D, Medicaid; hospitals and ambulatory surgery centres (MedTech) via GPOs
- Scale
- 2025 sales $94.2bn (+6.0% reported, +5.3% operational, i.e. excluding currency); ~138,200 employees (10-K, year-end 2025); 2026 guidance raised in October to $101.0–101.4bn reported sales (+~7.4% at midpoint)
- Capital / market cap
- One of two US companies with a AAA credit rating (with Microsoft); market cap roughly ~$350–450bn in 2024–26 (reported range; varies with share price)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Tylenol recall (1982); McNeil and DePuy ASR recalls and consent decree (2009–11); Risperdal off-label settlement (2013); Actelion (2017); opioid settlement (~$5bn, 2021); talc "Texas two-step" bankruptcies (2021–25) and ~$5.5bn proposed ovarian resolution (2026); Kenvue spin-off (2023); Abiomed, Shockwave and Intra-Cellular (2022–25); Stelara patent cliff (2025)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1982
Tylenol Poisonings and Recall
Crisis response / product recall and relaunch
2010
McNeil and DePuy Recalls
Recall / regulatory settlement (consent decree)
2013
Risperdal Off Label Settlement
Regulatory settlement (criminal plea and civil False Claims Act settlement)
2017
Actelion Acquisition
Acquisition (with a spin-out of R&D)
2021
Talc Texas Two Step
Litigation / bankruptcy (subsidiary Chapter 11 strategy), later a proposed settlement
2023
Kenvue Spin Off
Spin-off / IPO (followed by an exchange offer)
2024
Shockwave and Intra Cellular
Acquisition (a sequence: Abiomed 2022, Shockwave 2024, Intra-Cellular 2025)
2025
Stelara Cliff and Orthopaedics Separation
Loss of exclusivity / restructuring (planned separation)