Kenvue

Kenvue Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in February 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & JohnsonJohnson & JohnsonJohnson & Johnson is an American healthcare company founded in 1886, headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JNJ.Open the full entry.⁠[1]

Johnson & Johnson named its planned consumer health company Kenvue, combining “ken,” an English word for knowledge used primarily in Scotland, with “vue,” referencing sight; Thibaut Mongon was CEO Designate. The segment had 2021 revenue of $14.6 billion, and Kenvue was to become standalone in 2023.⁠[2]

Kenvue priced its upsized initial public offering of 172,812,560 shares at $22.00 each, with New York Stock Exchange trading under the symbol KVUE expected from May 4. Johnson & Johnson would then own 90.9 percent of Kenvue’s common stock.⁠[3]

Johnson & Johnson’s exchange offer was 4.2 times subscribed, leaving it with 9.5 percent of Kenvue’s outstanding shares, and Kenvue became a fully independent company. CEO Thibaut Mongon said: “This is a historic moment for Kenvue.”⁠[4]

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 August 21 that Kenvue would replace Advance Auto Parts in the 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 prior to the open on August 25, in the Consumer Staples sector, as a result of constituent Johnson & Johnson’s exchange offer.⁠[5]

Kenvue’s Chinese name, Ke Fu, was officially launched in China in September 2023. Declan Rooney, president of Kenvue China, said the company’s vision “perfectly aligns with the current trend to build up Healthy China.”⁠[6]

Plaintiffs sued Kenvue and store-brand retailers over an alleged acetaminophen–autism link. In 2023 U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan found the plaintiffs’ experts lacked sound methodology, and in 2024 she dismissed more than 500 lawsuits; the plaintiffs appealed to the 2nd Circuit.⁠[7]

Through a May 2024 debt-for-equity exchange, Johnson & Johnson disposed of its remaining Kenvue shares.⁠[1]

Thibaut Mongon departed and left the board, and director Kirk Perry, who joined the board in December 2024 and previously led Circana, became interim CEO. The company said the board had already begun a review of strategic alternatives, including optimizing its brand portfolio.⁠[8]

At a White House news conference, President Donald Trump urged pregnant women about a dozen times: “Don’t take Tylenol.” Kenvue shares fell 7.5 percent that day and rebounded in premarket trading the next morning.⁠[9]

Kenvue said: “We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism.”⁠[10]

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, alleging they hid risks of taking Tylenol during pregnancy, the first such suit by a state. Kenvue said it would defend itself “vigorously.”⁠[11]

The suit was filed on October 28, 2025. On February 27, 2026, Panola County District Judge LeAnn Rafferty denied Kenvue’s motion to dismiss in a one-sentence order.⁠[12]

In November 2025, the Texas Attorney General also issued a non-public Civil Investigative Demand about Aveeno Baby products labeled “hypoallergenic.”⁠[1]

Kimberly-Clark agreed to buy Kenvue in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $48.7 billion: $3.50 in cash plus 0.14625 Kimberly-Clark shares per Kenvue share, or $21.01. Kenvue shareholders were expected to own about 46 percent of the combined company.⁠[13]

Kimberly-Clark Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu would lead the combined company, three Kenvue directors would join its board, and headquarters would remain in Irving, Texas.⁠[14]

Kenvue has three segments, Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health, with brands including Aveeno, BAND-AID, Johnson’s, Listerine, Neutrogena, Nicorette, Tylenol and Zyrtec marketed in more than 165 countries, about 22,000 employees and headquarters in Summit, New Jersey.⁠[15]

At special meetings, preliminary results showed about 96 percent of Kimberly-Clark shares present backed the share issuance, and about 99 percent of Kenvue shares voted, about 77 percent of those outstanding, adopted the merger agreement.⁠[16]

Kenvue’s 2025 net sales fell 2.1 percent to $15.124 billion, with organic sales down 2.2 percent; net income was $1.470 billion, up from $1.030 billion, and diluted earnings per share were $0.76. Kirk Perry was CEO. The U.S. antitrust waiting period had expired on February 4.⁠[17]

A 2nd Circuit panel revived more than 500 lawsuits against Kenvue, finding the district court improperly excluded expert testimony from three doctors. Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi wrote that the testimony reflected methods used by other scientists.⁠[18]

The court vacated and remanded, stating it was “not deciding whether there is a general causal relationship between acetaminophen and ADHD and/or ASD.” Kenvue called the ruling procedural and said it was “exploring all options.”⁠[19]

Kenvue’s second-quarter net sales rose 3.0 percent to $3.955 billion and net income was $456 million. It expected the Kimberly-Clark deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to foreign regulatory approvals, and gave no guidance meanwhile.⁠[20]

The European Commission approved Kimberly-Clark’s proposed acquisition of Kenvue under the EU Merger Regulation, conditional on full compliance with Kimberly-Clark’s commitments.⁠[21]

The case was cleared in Phase I. The Commission’s concerns centered on tampon markets in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovakia. Kimberly-Clark committed to divest its feminine hygiene brands Kotex (including Lidie), Camelia and Record in the European Economic Area to Dilek Gıda Üretim ve Pazarlama Ticaret A.Ş.⁠[22]