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The story
Founded by Robert D. Walter in 1971.1
History
Founded in 1971 as Cardinal Foods by Robert D. Walter, the company was initially a food wholesaler. After acquiring the Bailey Drug Company in 1979, it began whole selling drugs. The company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1983.
In 1988, Walter sold Cardinal Health's food operations to Roundy's. From 1991 to 1996, the company's sales grew from $1.2 billion to $8.9 billion. The company changed its name to Cardinal Health in 1994, and became the third-largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in the United States.
2000–2019
R. Kerry Clark, a former executive and vice chairman at Procter & Gamble, was appointed president and CEO in April 2006, with Robert D. Walter retaining Chairmanship of the board. In September 2008, the company announced Clark and Walter would retire and George S. Barrett would become the chairman and CEO.
In 2009, Cardinal Health completed the spin-off of its clinical and medical products businesses into an independent medical technology company called CareFusion with David Schlotterbeck as CEO. Cardinal Health is now traded on the NYSE under symbol CAH.
In December 2013, it was announced that Cardinal Health would partner with CVS Caremark to form a generic drug sourcing operation in the United States. The venture was named Red Oak Sourcing and began operations in July 2014.
Between 2014 and 2016, Cardinal, alongside McKesson Corporation, and AmerisourceBergen, spent $13 million lobbying Congress to pass Congressman Tom Marino's "Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act". The bill, which increases the burden of proof enforcers need to show against drug distributors, was signed into law by President Barack Obama in April 2016.
In January 2018, Michael Kaufmann assumed the role of CEO after serving as CFO of the company.
Opioid lawsuits
In 2019, Cardinal was one of several drug distributors named in lawsuits related to the opioid crisis in the US. In July 2021, Cardinal Health and other pharmaceutical companies agreed to participate in a $26 billion settlement. Cardinal will pay $6.4 billion over 18 years.
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In May 2020, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sued Cardinal Health in Bryan County District Court, Oklahoma. The lawsuit alleged that the company's actions helped fuel Oklahoma's opioid crisis. The suit was filed along with lawsuits against AmerisourceBergen and McKesson, and the three lawsuits allege that the three companies provided "enough opioids to Bryan County that every adult resident there could have had 144 hydrocodone tablets."
2020–present
As of August 2021, it is ranked 14 on the Fortune 500 list with FY2020 annual revenue of $152.9 billion. The firm employs 57,000 people worldwide.
Acquisitions
In 1995, Medicine Shoppe International, the country's largest franchiser of retail pharmacies, was acquired. The merger represented the first non-distribution acquisition by Cardinal Health.
In 1996, Cardinal Health acquired Pyxis Corporation, a company that developed automated pill dispensers for hospitals, for $867 million.
In 1997, Cardinal Health planned to purchase Bergen Brunswig Corp., to which McKesson Corporation responded with a bid to purchase Amerisource. Instead, Amerisource and Bergen merged into AmerisourceBergen. Later that year, Cardinal Health completed the acquisition of Owen Healthcare, the second-largest provider of pharmacy management services in the U.S. at the time.
In 1999, the firm acquired the Chicago-based medical products manufacturer and distributor, Allegiance Healthcare (formerly a division of Baxter Healthcare). In 2001, the company acquired Bindley Western Industries, a wholesale distributor of pharmaceuticals based in Indianapolis.
In April 2006, Cardinal Health purchased Niagara Falls-based ParMed Pharmaceuticals for $40.1 million. In June 2007, the firm announced the completion of a tender offer for VIASYS Healthcare.
In June 2010, Cardinal Health announced plans to purchase Healthcare Solutions Holding, a specialty pharmaceutical services company, for $517 million. In December 2010, the company acquired Kinray, an independent pharmaceutical wholesaler, increasing Cardinal Health's presence in the independent pharmacy market by 40 percent. From 2010 to 2014, Cardinal Health acquired 18 companies including Yong Yu, a Chinese drug distributor. Cardinal sold Yong Yu in 2017 to Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd. for $1.2 billion.
On March 18, 2013, Cardinal Health acquired the Twinsburg, Ohio-based privately held medical supply distributor AssuraMed, and with it its subsidiaries including Edgepark Medical Supplies, for $2.7 billion. AssuraMed was backed by private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
In July 2014, Cardinal Health and CVS formed Red Oak Sourcing, the largest generic drug sourcing operation in the United States. The companies started buying generic drugs around the world to sell in U.S. markets.
In March 2015, Cardinal Health signed an agreement to acquire Johnson & Johnson's Cordis (medical) division, a cardiology and endovascular device manufacturer, for $1.94 billion. The acquisition was completed on October 4, 2015. Cardinal sold the division in August 2021 to Hellman & Friedman, a private equity firm, for $1 billion.
In April 2017, Cardinal Health announced the plan to acquire the patient product portfolio from Medtronic for $6.1 billion. The acquisition was completed on July 30, 2017.
In November 2024, Cardinal Health announced the plan to acquire Advanced Diabetes Supply Group (ADSG), a leading national direct-to-patient provider of diabetes medical supplies, for about $1.1 billion with plans to merge the company into its at-Home Solutions business. The at-Home Solutions business includes Edgepark Medical Supplies of Twinsburg, Ohio and United States Medical Supply (US MED) of Doral, Florida. The acquisition was complete by April 2024.
In August 2025, Cardinal Health announced that it would acquire a 75% stake in Solaris Health, the largest urology management services organization (MSO) in the United States, for $1.9 billion in cash.
In July 2026, Cardinal Health agreed to acquire AdaptHealth's diabetes health business and medical-supply provider Strive Medical in separate transactions worth approximately US$360 million in total. The acquisitions were intended to expand its at-Home Solutions business in diabetes and urological care.
Cardinal Health Foundation
The Cardinal Health Foundation is the charitable arm of Cardinal Health. The company makes annual product donations of over $9 million through international relief organizations and provides up to $1,000 in matching funds for every Cardinal Health employee that makes a charitable donation. In 2008, the foundation established its E3 Grant Program. Over the past seven years, the Foundation has invested more than $7.15 million in funding to 241 hospitals, health systems or other health-related organizations.
Cardinal Health also supports organizations such as Ronald McDonald House Charities, and was named Benefactor of the Year at the 2011 Corporate Caring Awards. In 2015, the foundation contributed $3 million to the Solutions for Patient Safety project, which has raised over $11 million nationally for efforts to improve safety initiatives in children's hospitals.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cardinal Health, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.9