Baker Hughes

In 1907, Reuben Carl Baker received a patent for his Well Casing Shoe. On August 10, 1909, Howard Hughes Sr. was awarded a U.S. patent for a dual-cone drill bit that could grind through hard rock. The Sharp-Hughes Tool Company he had founded with Walter Sharp became Hughes Tool in 1915.⁠[1]

In 1928, Baker renamed his company Baker Oil Tools, a name it kept for 40 years, and in 1976 it became Baker International Corporation. Hughes Tool became a publicly owned company in 1972.⁠[2]

In April 1987, Baker International Corporation and Hughes Tool Company combined to form Baker Hughes Incorporated.⁠[3]

The merger was announced on October 22, 1986, and completed on April 3, 1987, after a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice.⁠[2]

On April 26, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Baker Hughes with bribery in Kazakhstan and with violating a 2001 Commission cease-and-desist order. The company and its subsidiary agreed to pay more than $44 million in total, including an $11 million criminal fine paid by Baker Hughes Services International after it pleaded guilty.⁠[4]

On November 16, 2014, Halliburton and Baker Hughes signed a merger agreement. On April 30, 2016, the parties agreed to terminate it, and Halliburton was to pay Baker Hughes the $3.5 billion termination fee required by the agreement.⁠[5]

The U.S. Department of Justice had sued on April 6, 2016, to block the $34 billion merger, saying it would harm competition in at least 23 markets crucial to U.S. oil and natural gas exploration and production. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that “no merger is too big or too complex to be challenged.”⁠[6]

On October 30, 2016, Baker Hughes and GE agreed to combine Baker Hughes with GE’s oil and gas business, with a $17.50-per-share special dividend for Baker Hughes stockholders and an approximate 62.5% interest for GE.⁠[3]

On July 3, 2017, Baker Hughes and GE Oil & Gas completed their combination, forming Baker Hughes, a GE company, with dual headquarters in Houston and London. The old BHI ticker was delisted after the close that day, and the new Class A shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as BHGE on July 5.⁠[7]

The new company was led by chief executive Lorenzo Simonelli. With about 70,000 employees and $23 billion in annual revenue, it became the world’s second-largest oilfield service provider by revenue after SchlumbergerSLBSLB, formerly Schlumberger, is a global technology company founded by the Schlumberger brothers in 1926, renamed SLB in 2022 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Open the full entry. The deal assumed oil would reach $60 a barrel by 2019, while prices were below $50. Simonelli said, “The crystal ball for all of us is cloudy.”⁠[8]

In November 2018, GE and its affiliates sold 101.2 million shares of Class A common stock, reducing GE’s interest from about 62.5% to about 50.4%.⁠[9]

In September 2019, GE sold 115 million Class A shares in a public offering at $21.50 per share for net proceeds of about $2.7 billion, cutting its stake from 50.4% to 38.4%. GE no longer held a controlling interest, and its board seats fell from five to one.⁠[10]

On October 17, 2019, the company changed its name from Baker Hughes, a GE company, to Baker Hughes Company, and its Class A stock began trading under the symbol BKR the next day.⁠[9]

In July 2020, GE said on a quarterly investor call that it would make a “clean break” from Baker Hughes within three years by selling its remaining stake. GE then held about 37%, worth $5.5 billion at current prices.⁠[11]

On October 27, 2021, the company announced it would move its Class A common stock and listed bonds from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, keeping the BKR symbol, with trading on Nasdaq set to begin at the open on December 7. Simonelli said, “The transition to Nasdaq provides us with greater cost savings.”⁠[12]

In December 2022, GE exchanged all of its Class B common stock and its economic interests in BHH LLC for Class A shares, leaving no Class B shares outstanding, and GE then exited its ownership position in the company.⁠[13]

On July 29, 2025, Baker Hughes announced it would acquire Chart Industries for $210 per share in cash, an enterprise value of $13.6 billion. Chart designs and makes process technologies and equipment for gas and liquid molecule handling and had 2024 revenue of $4.2 billion. Goldman SachsGoldman SachsGoldman Sachs is an American financial services group headquartered in New York whose businesses include investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management. It traces its origins to the commercial paper business Marcus Goldman founded in 1869; it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 under the ticker GS and became a bank holding company in 2008. David Solomon serves as chairman and chief executive officer.Open the full entry and Morgan StanleyMorgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is an American global financial services firm that grew from an investment banking partnership into a publicly traded financial group spanning investment banking, securities trading, wealth management, and investment management.Open the full entry committed bridge financing. Simonelli said the deal “is a milestone for Baker Hughes.”⁠[14]

Chart shareholders approved the transaction on October 6, 2025.⁠[15]

In 2025, the company had revenue of $27,733 million (2024: $27,829 million), net income attributable to Baker Hughes of $2,588 million (2024: $2,979 million) and orders of $29,585 million, up 5%.⁠[16]

The company had two segments, Oilfield Services & Equipment and Industrial & Energy Technology, did business in more than 120 countries and had about 56,000 employees at December 31, 2025. It has an intellectual-property cross-license agreement with GE AerospaceGE AerospaceGE Aerospace is the name under which General Electric Company operates, a jet engine maker listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GE.Open the full entry, GE VernovaGE VernovaGE Vernova is a U.S. power equipment and services company, spun off from General Electric on April 2, 2024, listed on the New York Stock Exchange and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Open the full entry and GE HealthCare, and jointly controls the aeroderivative joint venture, Aero JV, with GE Vernova.⁠[17]

On July 16, 2026, Baker Hughes completed its acquisition of Chart Industries. Chart became a third operating segment led by senior vice president Jim Apostolides, covering air and gas handling, thermal management and lifecycle services, with a target of $325 million in annualized cost synergies within three years of closing.⁠[18]