COMPANYHISTORIES

Switzerland

Companies based in Switzerland, and the events that shaped them.

60companies1802–1997founding years58still active1no longer operating
§ 01

Switzerland companies over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedGeorg Fischer AG Schaffhausen
1802
1839
TechnologyGoodyear discovers how to vulcanize rubber.
FoundedChocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG
1845
1851
TechnologySinger's sewing machine mechanizes garment-making.
1856
TechnologyBessemer's process makes cheap steel possible.
1857
EconomyThe Panic of 1857 spreads through banks and railroads.
1859
TechnologyDrake's well at Titusville launches the oil industry.
FoundedBâloise-Holding
1863
1867
TechnologyNobel patents dynamite.
1869
EconomyThe transcontinental railroad links the American coasts.
EconomyThe Suez Canal opens, reshaping global shipping.
1873
EconomyLevi Strauss patents riveted denim work pants.
EconomyThe Panic of 1873 triggers a global depression.
FoundedGeberit AG
1874
1876
TechnologyAlexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.
1879
TechnologyEdison demonstrates a practical incandescent lamp.
1882
TechnologyEdison's Pearl Street Station opens the electric-utility era.
FoundedCiba-Geigy Ltd.
1884
1886
EconomyCoca-Cola is first served in Atlanta.
TechnologyThe Hall-Heroult process makes aluminum cheap to produce.
1888
TechnologyKodak's roll-film camera brings photography to everyone.
FoundedKuehne & Nagel International AG
1890
FoundedBernina Holding AG
1893
EconomyThe Panic of 1893 pulls down banks and overbuilt railroads.
FoundedSwarovski International Holding AG
1895
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedFédération Internationale de Football Association
1904
FoundedSerono S.A.
1906
1908
TechnologyFord's Model T puts the automobile within reach of the middle class.
1913
TechnologyFord's moving assembly line transforms factory production.
FoundedSulzer Ltd.
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
1916
EconomyPiggly Wiggly opens the first self-service grocery store.
1925
EconomyThe Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting from Nashville.
1927
TechnologyThe Jazz Singer ushers in the era of sound films.
TechnologyLindbergh flies the Atlantic solo, and aviation captures the public.
1928
TechnologyPenicillin is discovered, opening the age of antibiotics.
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
FoundedRicola Ltd.
1930
1931
EconomyThe Empire State Building rises in just over a year.
1933
EconomyThe first drive-in movie theater opens in New Jersey.
1937
EconomyThe Golden Gate Bridge opens as the world's longest suspension span.
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedBodum Design Group AG
1944
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1946
TechnologyENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedTetra Pak International SA
1951
1955
EconomyMcDonald's franchising begins, remaking fast food.
EconomyDisneyland opens and invents the modern theme park.
1956
TechnologyThe first transatlantic telephone cable opens.
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
EconomyThe first Walmart opens, built on everyday low prices.
1969
TechnologyARPANET, the internet's precursor, goes live.
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
FoundedSwiss International Air Lines Ltd.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
TechnologyThe first US in-vitro fertilization baby is born.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
FoundedTAG Heuer International SA
1985
FoundedSTMicroelectronics NV
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
TechnologyLinux and open source challenge proprietary software.
FoundedGate Gourmet International AG
1992
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1994
TechnologyE-commerce begins to disrupt retail.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
1999
TechnologyNapster ignites the digital disruption of recorded music.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
TechnologyGPS opens to civilian use, turning location into a utility.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
EconomyThe Swiss National Bank unpegs the franc from the euro.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Compagnie Financière Richemont AG →
Active · Switzerland
Created as a holding company for the Rupert family's international interests, Compagnie Financière Richemont AG…
Georg Fischer AG Schaffhausen →
Active · founded 1802 · Switzerland
Switzerland's Georg Fischer AG Schaffhausen is a world-leading industrial engineering group engaged in four primary…
Danzas Group →
Active · founded 1840 · Switzerland
Danzas Group is one of Europe's leading logistics groups, the European leader in overland freight-forwarding and…
Barry Callebaut AG →
Active · founded 1842 · Switzerland
Franco-Belgo-Swiss Barry Callebaut AG is the world's largest manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products for…
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG →
Active · founded 1845 · Switzerland
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG is one of the world's leading manufacturers of premium chocolate and…
SCHWEIZERISCHE POST-, TELEFON- UND TELEGRAFEN-BETRIEBE →
Active · founded 1849 · Switzerland
With its ubiquitous bright yellow post-buses and award-winning issues of elegant stamps, Schweizerische Post-, Telefon-…
Credit Suisse Group →
Active · founded 1856 · Switzerland
Credit Suisse Group, which began as a commercial bank in 1856, at a time when Switzerland was first embracing the…
Bâloise-Holding →
Renamed · founded 1863 · Switzerland
Bâloise-Holding is positioning itself as a leading European integrated financial services provider.
Swiss Reinsurance Company (Schweizerische Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft) →
Active · founded 1863 · Switzerland
Schweizerische Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft, known as Swiss Reinsurance Company, or Swiss Re in English-speaking…
Nestlé S.A. →
Active · founded 1866 · Switzerland
Nestlé S.A.
Geberit AG →
Active · founded 1874 · Switzerland
Geberit AG is Europe's leading manufacturer of sanitary technology.
Schindler Holding AG →
Active · founded 1874 · Switzerland
Through its numerous subsidiaries, Schindler Holding AG is Europe's top supplier of elevators and escalators and ranks…
Winterthur Group →
Active · founded 1875 · Switzerland
Winterthur Group is the largest life and nonlife insurance company in Switzerland, selling a broad range of insurance…
De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited/De Beers Centenary AG →
Active · founded 1880 · Switzerland
The De Beers Group dominates the world market in rough diamonds.
Ciba-Geigy Ltd. →
Active · founded 1884 · Switzerland
Ciba-Geigy is the largest chemical company in Switzerland.
Coop Schweiz Genossenschaftsverband →
Active · founded 1890 · Switzerland
Coop Schweiz Genossenschaftsverband is Switzerland's second-largest food products retailer, behind fellow cooperative…
Julius Baer Holding AG →
Active · founded 1890 · Switzerland
The leading independent private bank in Switzerland, Julius Baer Holding AG has come to epitomize the Swiss banking…
Kuehne & Nagel International AG →
Active · founded 1890 · Switzerland
Kuehne & Nagel International AG (KN) operates as a leading transport and logistics concern with more than 600 locations…
Victorinox AG →
Active · founded 1891 · Switzerland
Victorinox AG has spent the 20th century perfecting and popularizing a cultural icon: the Swiss Army knife.
Keramik Holding AG Laufen →
Active · founded 1892 · Switzerland
Keramik Holding AG Laufen is one of the world's leading producers of sanitary ware--toilets, bathtubs, sinks, and other…
Bernina Holding AG →
Active · founded 1893 · Switzerland
Bernina Holding AG is the parent company of Fritz Gegauf AG, one of the world's five largest sewing machine…
ELEKTROWATT AG →
Active · founded 1895 · Switzerland
Elektrowatt AG is one of the largest holding companies in Switzerland, with diversified interests in more than 100…
Firmenich International S.A. →
Active · founded 1895 · Switzerland
A major development for the group's Flavors division came in 2001, when the company began development on a new,…
Swarovski International Holding AG →
Active · founded 1895 · Switzerland
Switzerland-based Swarovski International Holding AG is parent to the Swarovski group of companies based in and around…
Maus Frères SA →
Active · founded 1901 · Switzerland
Maus Frères SA is one of Switzerland's largest retail groups.
Maus Frères SA →
Active · founded 1901 · Switzerland
Maus Frères SA is one of Switzerland's largest retail groups.
THE SWISS FEDERAL RAILWAYS (SCHWEIZERISCHE BUNDESBAHNEN) →
Active · founded 1902 · Switzerland
The Swiss Federal Railways has developed from unpromising beginnings into one of the most advanced passenger and…
Fédération Internationale de Football Association →
Active · founded 1904 · Switzerland
The world's governing body for football, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the…
Montres Rolex S.A. →
Active · founded 1905 · Switzerland
Montres Rolex S.A.
Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. →
Active · founded 1906 · Switzerland
Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd.
Serono S.A. →
Defunct · founded 1906 · Switzerland
Over nearly a century of activity, Serono S.A.
"HOLDERBANK" FINANCI&EgaveE GLARIS LTD. →
Active · founded 1912 · Switzerland
Stock Index: Zürich Basel Geneva Switzerland's "Holderbank" Financi&egavere Glaris (Holderbank), with its motto…
UBS AG →
Active · founded 1912 · Switzerland
UBS AG was formed from the 1998 megamerger of Swiss Bank Corporation and Union Bank of Switzerland.
Sulzer Ltd. →
Active · founded 1914 · Switzerland
Sulzer Ltd.
Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd. →
Active · founded 1918 · Switzerland
Private, Switzerland-based Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd.
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. →
Active · founded 1919 · Switzerland
Founded in 1896 in Basel, Switzerland, F.
Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund →
Active · founded 1925 · Switzerland
Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (also known as Federation of Migro Cooperatives) is Switzerland's leading retailers and one…
Ricola Ltd. →
Active · founded 1930 · Switzerland
Ricola Ltd.
Tamedia AG →
Active · founded 1933 · Switzerland
Tamedia AG is Switzerland's second largest media and publishing group.
Roland Murten A.G. →
Active · founded 1938 · Switzerland
As the manufacturer of Zwieback and brand name pains croustillants, Roland Murten is a household name throughout…
Bodum Design Group AG →
Active · founded 1944 · Switzerland
Bodum Design Group AG is a Switzerland-based manufacturer of household appliances, table service, and utensils…
Mettler-Toledo International Inc. →
Active · founded 1945 · Switzerland
Mettler-Toledo International Inc.
Liebherr-International AG →
Active · founded 1949 · Switzerland
Liebherr-International AG is the Swiss holding company of the Liebherr Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers…
Tetra Pak International SA →
Active · founded 1951 · Switzerland
Tetra Pak International SA makes laminated containers such as juice boxes.
Adecco S.A. →
Active · founded 1957 · Switzerland
ECCOAdecco S.A.
Phoenix Mecano AG →
Active · founded 1975 · Switzerland
Phoenix Mecano AG produces a variety of electrotechnical and mechanical components.
Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. →
Active · founded 1975 · Switzerland
Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.
Logitech International S.A. →
Active · founded 1981 · Switzerland
Logitech International S.A.
Kraft Jacobs Suchard AG →
Active · founded 1982 · Switzerland
Kraft Jacobs Suchard AG--part of Philip Morris Companies Inc.
The Swatch Group SA →
Active · founded 1984 · Switzerland
The Swatch Group SA--known as Société Suisse de Microelectronique & d'Horlogerie or SMH until 1998--is the world's…
TAG Heuer International SA →
Active · founded 1985 · Switzerland
TAG Heuer International SA (Heuer), through its wholly owned Swiss subsidiary, TAG Heuer S.A., is a leading designer,…
Bon Appetit Holding AG →
Active · founded 1986 · Switzerland
Bon Appetit Holding AG is the leading publicly listed food trade company in Switzerland.
Ascom AG →
Active · founded 1987 · Switzerland
Ascom AG is Switzerland's largest telecommunications company.
STMicroelectronics NV →
Active · founded 1987 · Switzerland
STMicroelectronics NV is one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturing companies.
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. →
Active · founded 1988 · Switzerland
Formerly fierce competitors in the heavy-electrical and power-generation fields, Sweden's ASEA AB (which changed its…
ABB Ltd. →
Active · founded 1988 · Switzerland
Early 1990s:Company makes concerted push into eastern European and Asian markets.
Gate Gourmet International AG →
Active · founded 1992 · Switzerland
Gate Gourmet International AG is a leading supplier of in-flight food service for the global airline industry.
Novartis AG →
Active · founded 1996 · Switzerland
Novartis AG was founded in 1996 with the merger of Ciba-Geigy Ltd.
Swissport International Ltd. →
Active · founded 1996 · Switzerland
Swissport International Ltd.
Swisscom AG →
Active · founded 1997 · Switzerland
Swisscom AG is the leading telecommunications company in Switzerland.
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