Danaher

Danaher’s predecessor was organized in 1969 as a Massachusetts real estate investment trust. In 1984 Steven and Mitchell Rales named the reorganized holding company Danaher Corporation after a favorite mountain stream in western Montana, and that year it acquired businesses including Mohawk Rubber Company.⁠[1]

On May 16, 2001, Federal Express Corporation sued Accu-Sort, Inc., later a Danaher subsidiary, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and other claims. The parties settled in March 2006 for an undisclosed amount; Danaher recorded a $15.5 million pre-tax charge in its 2005 results and said it would seek recovery under indemnification provisions of the 2003 purchase agreement.⁠[2]

Danaher completed its acquisition of Beckman Coulter, Inc. through a tender offer at $83.50 per share in cash followed by a merger; about 92.38% of shares were validly tendered, and Beckman Coulter became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher.⁠[3]

On September 2, 2014, Danaher announced that Thomas P. Joyce, Jr. would succeed H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., CEO since May 2001, as president and chief executive officer on September 9. Revenues grew about five-fold to nearly $20 billion under Culp.⁠[4]

Danaher completed its acquisition of Pall Corporation; each Pall share was converted into the right to receive $127.20 in cash, and Pall’s stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Danaher had revenue of $19.9 billion in 2014.⁠[5]

S&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) is a global index provider that compiles and licenses benchmark indices including the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was formed in 2012 by combining McGraw-Hill’s S&P index business with the Dow Jones Indexes business held by a joint venture of CME Group and Dow Jones, and it is now the index business division of S&P Global, which holds about 73% of the interest.Open the full entry announced on March 11, 2016, that Danaher, an S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry constituent, would join the S&P 100 after the close of trading on March 18; it was then classified in the Industrials sector under the Industrial Conglomerates sub-industry.⁠[6]

Danaher completed the spin-off of Fortive Corporation, which took its Test & Measurement segment, most of its Industrial Technologies segment and its Retail/Commercial Petroleum platform. Shareholders received one Fortive share for every two Danaher shares, and Fortive began regular-way trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FTV on July 5. Chief executive Joyce said, “This is an exciting day for Danaher.”⁠[7]

Danaher agreed on February 25, 2019, to buy the Biopharma business of General ElectricGE 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’s Life Sciences division and closed on March 31, 2020, for about $20.7 billion in cash. To meet regulatory requirements it sold most of the product lines it had to divest on April 30, 2020, for about $825 million.⁠[8]

On the closing date Danaher announced that the business would be called Cytiva and operate as a standalone operating company within its Life Sciences segment.⁠[9]

General Electric said the sale brought total consideration of $21.4 billion, including about $21 billion in cash and Danaher’s assumption of certain pension liabilities, and net cash proceeds of about $20 billion.⁠[10]

Danaher completed the separation of its dental business, Envista Holdings, through an exchange offer, accepting 22,921,984 of its own shares in exchange for all 127,868,000 Envista shares it held, after which it no longer owned any voting or economic interest in Envista. Envista trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NVST.⁠[11]

On May 6, 2020, Danaher announced that Executive Vice President Rainer M. Blair would succeed Joyce, CEO since September 2014, as president and chief executive officer on September 1. Blair joined Danaher’s Videojet in 2010, became president of SCIEX in 2011 and executive vice president in 2017 with responsibility for the Life Sciences platform; Joyce remained a senior advisor through February 28, 2021.⁠[12]

Danaher completed the spin-off of its Environmental & Applied Solutions segment as Veralto Corporation. Shareholders received one Veralto share for every three Danaher shares, and Veralto began regular-way trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VLTO on October 2. Blair said, “Today marks an exciting milestone for Danaher.”⁠[13]

Danaher completed its acquisition of Abcam plc for $24.00 per share in cash through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement; Abcam became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary, and trading of its American depositary shares on Nasdaq was suspended.⁠[14]

Danaher’s 2025 revenue was $24.6 billion, up 3.0% year over year; net earnings were $3,614 million (2024: $3,899 million), diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $5.03, and operating cash flow from continuing operations was about $6.4 billion.⁠[15]

Danaher is organized into Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Diagnostics segments with more than 15 operating companies that use the Danaher Business System (DBS) for continuous improvement. As of December 31, 2025, it had about 60,000 employees.⁠[16]

On February 17, 2026, Danaher announced an agreement to acquire Masimo Corporation, a maker of pulse oximetry and patient monitoring products, for $180 per share in cash, an enterprise value of about $9.9 billion, with Masimo to become a standalone operating company in its Diagnostics segment. Blair said Masimo “will greatly strengthen our diagnostics franchise.”⁠[17]

Danaher announced the completion of the transaction on June 10, 2026.⁠[18]

A securities fraud class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (case No. 23-cv-02055) alleged that Danaher and certain executives made false or misleading statements between January 27, 2022, and October 23, 2023. On June 1, 2026, the court granted preliminary approval of a $172.5 million settlement, with final approval pending.⁠[19]