Merck family

For over 350 years, the Merck family has been engaged in the health solutions sector, making theirs one of the oldest family-run businesses in the world. Through the family’s parent company, Merck KGaA, they operate in the divisions of healthcare, performance materials and life science. Founded in 1891 and headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck KGaA has yearly revenue of over $17 billion and more than 51,000 employees.
In 1668, Friedrich Jacob Merck bought a pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany, establishing the family business, Merck KGaA. In 1827, five generations after its founding, Emanuel Merck transformed the family pharmacy business into an industrial company and helped shift the entire pharmaceutical industry to a science-based sector. Emanuel also created E. Merck, a partnership company with his three sons, who would go on to shape the business together. E. Merck would expand globally to all continents by 1879. However, after WWI, the company lost many subsidiaries abroad, including Merck & Co. Inc., which was founded in 1890 in Jew Jersey and remains an independent US company.
Today, more than 100 Merck family members share a 70 per cent stake in Merck KGaA and control the strategic direction of the business.