How Johnson & Johnson became the sprawling healthcare giant it is today

By Carl O'Donnell

Johnson & Johnson plans to spin off its consumer health division that sells Listerine and Baby Powder to focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the biggest shake-up in the U.S. company's 135-year history.

Here is how J&J got to where it is today.

1886 Robert Wood Johnson partners with brothers James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson to found Johnson & Johnson in 1886. It originally focused on ready-to-use sterile surgical dressings.

1894 J&J begins producing Johnson's Baby Powder.

1918 In response to a global flu pandemic, J&J begins selling a mask designed to limit the spread of the airborne viral illness.

1920 J&J invents Band-Aid and begins marketing it in 1921.

1944 J&J completes its initial public offering and becomes a publicly traded company. It had annual sales of around $95 million at the time, compared to more than $80 billion in 2020.

1959 J&J acquires Tylenol maker McNeil Laboratories.

1961 J&J acquires Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which now makes ADHD drug Concerta and J&J's COVID-19 vaccine.

1997 The first lawsuit alleging that J&J's Baby Powder contains cancer-causing asbestos is filed against J&J. Since then, J&J has faced thousands of lawsuits and billions of liabilities and has ceased distributing Baby Powder in the United States and Canada.

1999 J&J acquires Centocor Biotech Inc, maker of Remicade for Crohn's disease, and renames it Janssen Biotech.

2012 Johnson and Johnson acquires orthopedic device maker Synthes for nearly $20 billion to expand its medical product offerings.

2017 J&J acquires Actelion for $30 billion, adding heart disease medicines such as Tracleer to its portfolio.

2020 J&J begins developing a COVID-19 vaccine. It received authorization to begin administering its COVID-19 shot the following year.