![]() | |
Industry | Healthcare and Home Environment Products |
---|---|
Founded | 1926 |
Founder | Max Katzman |
Headquarters | Marlborough, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Area served | 65 countries |
Key people | Jon Kosheff, President of Helen of Troy Health & Home (Kaz USA, Inc.) Julien Mininberg, CEO of Helen of Troy |
Products | Air Purifiers Blood Pressure Monitors Dehumidifiers and Humidifiers Fans Heat/Cold Therapy Heaters Insect Control Thermometers Water Filtration |
Brands | Braun, licensed Chillout Duracraft Enviracaire Febreze, licensed Honeywell Kaz NOsquito Protec PUR SmartTemp SoftHeat Stinger Vicks (Vick, Wick),licensed |
Parent | Helen of Troy |
Website | www.kaz.com |
Kaz, Inc. is a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based manufacturer and distributor of health care products.
Max Katzman [1] invented the first electric vaporizer (original U.S. patent no. 1,628,784, issued May 17, 1927) and, in 1926, he founded Kaz, Incorporated to manufacture and market it. [2] [3]
The expansion of the company – from a family business to a company designing, developing and marketing hundreds of healthcare and home environment products worldwide – came through research and development, acquisitions and licensing agreements. [4]
For more than 80 years, members of the Katzman family owned and managed Kaz. In 1956, founder Lawrence (Larry) Katzman succeeded his father, founder Max Katzman. [5] In addition to serving as Kaz’ second CEO, Larry was also a Palma d’Oro winning cartoonist best known for drawing Nellie Nifty, RN for a series of books and greeting cards. [6] [7] Richard Katzman succeeded his father, Larry, as CEO in 1997. [5] [8]
In 2006, Julien Mininberg became Kaz, Inc.’s first President outside the Katzman family. He became CEO in 2010. [5] [8] Helen of Troy acquired Kaz, Inc. in 2010 and it continues to operate as a subsidiary. [4] Julien Mininberg remained the company's CEO until 2014, when he was appointed CEO of Helen of Troy. [9]
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011. Motorola Solutions is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola, Inc., as the reorganization was structured with Motorola Mobility being spun off. Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014.
Lawrence Edward Page is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known as one of the co-founders of Google, along with Sergey Brin.
Mark Jonathan Pincus is an American Internet entrepreneur known as the founder of Zynga, a mobile social gaming company. Pincus also founded the startups Freeloader, Inc., Tribe Networks, and Support.com. Pincus served as the CEO of Zynga until July 2013, then again from 2015 to 2016.
Cardinal Health, Inc. is an American multinational health care services company, and the 14th highest revenue generating company in the United States. Its headquarters are in Dublin, Ohio and Dublin, Ireland (EMEA). The company specializes in the distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical products, serving more than 100,000 locations. The company also manufactures medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel, and fluid management products. In addition, it operates one of the largest network of radiopharmacies in the U.S. Cardinal Health provides medical products to over 75 percent of hospitals in the United States.
Braun GmbH is a German consumer products company founded in 1921 and based in Kronberg im Taunus. The company is particularly well known for its industrial product design from the mid-20th century which included electric shavers and record players.
Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that focuses on artificial intelligence, search engine, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, and consumer electronics. It has been referred to as the "most powerful company in the world" and one of the world's most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the area of artificial intelligence. It is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Bloomberg Industry Group is an affiliate of Bloomberg L.P. and a source of legal, tax, regulatory, and business information for professionals. It is headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The company's CEO is Josh Eastright.
John Katzman is an American EdTech pioneer. He has established a number of companies which assist students with their studies and career choices, including Princeton Review, 2U, and Noodle Partners. The last two companies are online program managers (OPMs). Katzman has also authored books on the subject.
Helen of Troy Limited is an American publicly traded designer, developer and worldwide marketer of consumer brand-name housewares, health and home, and beauty products under owned and licensed brands. It is the parent corporation of OXO International Ltd., Kaz, Inc., Steel Technologies, LLC, and Idelle Labs, Ltd, among others. The company is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, with U.S. operations headquartered in El Paso, Texas. The company is named after the historical or mythic figure Helen of Troy.
Actavis Generics is a global pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, manufacturing and marketing branded pharmaceuticals, generic and over-the-counter medicines, and biologic products. Actavis has a commercial presence across approximately 100 countries. The company has global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and administrative headquarters in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, United States.
Tivity Health, formerly Healthways, is a provider of health improvement, fitness and social engagement solutions. Tivity Health is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee with offices in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and Chandler, Arizona. The company was founded in 1981 as American Healthways and rebranded to Tivity Health in 2017. Tivity Health acquired Nutrisystem Inc. in March of 2019, and agreed to sell the nutrition business to Kainos Capital in October 2020.
Michael J. Critelli is the CEO and an investor in The MakeUsWell network of the MoveFlux Corporation. He is the former Chairman and CEO (1996-2007) of Pitney Bowes.
Gojo Industries, Inc., is a privately held manufacturer of hand hygiene and skin care products founded in 1946, in Akron, Ohio, where it is again headquartered after a period in Cuyahoga Falls. One of its most well-known products is Purell, a hand sanitizer. It offers an electronic hand hygiene monitoring system for medical institutions.
Pichai Sundararajan, better known as Sundar Pichai, is an Indian-American business executive. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google.
Graphiq is a semantic technology company that uses artificial intelligence to rapidly create interactive data-driven infographics. Its intent is similar to Wolfram Alpha which is designed to provide users with direct information on a variety of subjects rather than going through a search engine.
Sherilyn S. McCoy is an American scientist and business executive. She is the former CEO of Avon Products and former vice chairman and member of the office of the chairman of Johnson & Johnson, where she was responsible for the pharmaceutical and consumer business divisions of the company. She was appointed as the vice chairman in January 2011, after which she was named by Fortune Magazine, as the 10th woman on their list of "50 Most Powerful Women in Business", a list on which she has been included since 2008. In February 2012, she resigned her employment with Johnson & Johnson after 30 years and was subsequently named as the CEO of Avon Products. In August 2012, she was recognized as the 39th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine.
Quidel Corporation is a major American manufacturer of diagnostic healthcare products that are sold worldwide.
Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries. Alphabet is the world's third-largest technology company by revenue and one of the world's most valuable companies. It is one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft.
Daniel T. Pickett III is an American technology entrepreneur, private equity investor and philanthropist. Pickett is the co-founder, president and CEO of aptihealth, a digital behavioral health engagement company. He is the former CEO of Hudson River Capital Holdings, a private investment company in New York. He was previously president and chief revenue officer of Zones.