COMPANY·HISTORIES

Switzerland

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

60companies1840–1997founding years58still active1no longer operating
§ 01

Switzerland companies over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedDanzas Group
1840
FoundedSCHWEIZERISCHE POST-, TELEFON- UND TELEGRAFEN-BETRIEBE
1849
FoundedSwiss Reinsurance Company (Schweizerische Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft)
1863
FoundedWinterthur Group
1875
FoundedJulius Baer Holding AG
1890
FoundedKeramik Holding AG Laufen
1892
FoundedSwarovski International Holding AG
1895
FoundedTHE SWISS FEDERAL RAILWAYS (SCHWEIZERISCHE BUNDESBAHNEN)
1902
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedKuoni Travel Holding Ltd.
1906
FoundedUBS AG
1912
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedF. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
1919
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
FoundedTamedia AG
1933
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedMettler-Toledo International Inc.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedAdecco S.A.
1957
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
FoundedLogitech International S.A.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
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.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
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

Bernina Holding AG →
Active · Switzerland
Founded: 1893 Employees: 887 Sales: $154.5 million (2000) NAIC: 335228 Other Major Household Appliance…
Compagnie Financière Richemont AG →
Active · Switzerland
Created as a holding company for the Rupert family's international interests, Compagnie Financière Richemont AG…
De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited/De Beers Centenary AG →
Active · Switzerland
Founded: 1880 as De Beers Mining Company Ltd.
Geberit AG →
Active · Switzerland
Founded: 1874 Employees: 4,144 Sales: SFr 1.16 billion (2001) Stock Exchanges: Swiss NAIC: 327111 Vitreous China…
Georg Fischer AG Schaffhausen →
Active · Switzerland
Founded: 1802 Employees: 2,903 Sales: SFr 3.48 billion ($2.56 billion) (2002) Stock Exchanges: Swiss Ticker Symbol:…
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
Total Assets: SFr 1.02 trillion ($752.01 billion) (2003) Stock Exchanges: Swiss Frankfurt New York Ticker Symbol:…
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
Total Assets: $19.5 billion (2000) Stock Exchanges: Swiss Ticker Symbol: RUKN NAIC: 52413 Reinsurance…
Nestlé S.A. →
Active · founded 1866 · Switzerland
Ticker Symbols: NESN; NSRGY (ADRs) NAIC: 311514 Dry, Condensed, and Evaporated Dairy Product Manufacturing; 311520 Ice…
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…
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
Total Assets: SFr 14.05 billion ($8.89 billion) (2001) Stock Exchanges: Zurich Ticker Symbol: BAER NAIC: 522110…
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…
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
Total Assets: SFr 1.24 trillion ($838.2 billion) (2002) Stock Exchanges: Swiss New York Tokyo Ticker Symbol: UBS NAIC:…
Sulzer Ltd. →
Active · founded 1914 · Switzerland
Stock Exchange: Swiss Ticker Symbol: Sulzer N NAIC: 325110 Petrochemical Manufacturing; 333610 Engine, Turbine, and…
Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd. →
Active · founded 1918 · Switzerland
1930s:Panalpina acquires Hans im Obersteg and expands into maritime shipping and international forwarding.
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
1960s:The company changes its name to Ricola, converts to a joint-stock company, and decides to focus on its herbal…
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
1960s:Bodum launches variations on the Santos.
Mettler-Toledo International Inc. →
Active · founded 1945 · Switzerland
Mettler-Toledo International Inc.
Liebherr-International AG →
Active · founded 1949 · Switzerland
1950s:Liebherr starts making household refrigerators.
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
Ticker Symbols: ADEN; ADO NAIC: 561310 Employment Placement Agencies 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
Ticker Symbols: TAGN; THW SICs: 3873 Watches, Clocks, Watchcases & Parts; 5094 Jewelry & Precious Stones TAG Heuer…
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
Ticker Symbols: NVS (NYSE); NOVN (SWX) NAIC: 325412 Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing; 541710 Research and…
Swissport International Ltd. →
Active · founded 1996 · Switzerland
Swissport International Ltd.
Swisscom AG →
Active · founded 1997 · Switzerland
Ticker Symbols: SCMN SCM NAIC: 517212 Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications; 517110 Wired Telecommunications…
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