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This is a list of companies founded by Harvard University alumni, including attendees who enrolled in degree programs at Harvard University but did not eventually graduate. Companies founded by alumni of Radcliffe College ("Harvard Annex", 1879-1999) are not included in this list. [1] This list is not exhaustive, as it only includes notable companiesof which the founding and development history is well recorded by reliable sources. In particular, subsidiaries are listed with their owners in parentheses.
Harvard is a highly successful university in attracting funding for start-up companies, and its alumni have created a large number of companies. [2] [3] [4] According to PitchBook, from 2006 to 2017, Harvard produced 844 company founders as alumni or current students, creating 750 companies, fourth most among all universities in the world. [5] [6]
In this list, founders of a company which merged with other companies to form a new company are counted as founders of the new company. However, founders of a company which later dissolved into several successor companies are not counted as founders of those successor companies; this same rule applies to spin-off companies. Finally, a defunct company is a company that had stopped functioning completely (e.g., bankrupt) without dissolving, merging or being acquired.
This list shows companies in Fortune Global 500 founded or co-founded by Harvard alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune Global 500 companies is $21,609M in 2016. [7]
Company | Region | Fortune Global 500 (2017) [8] | Revenue in US$ millions (2016) [8] | Type | Category | Year founded | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CVS | United States | 14 | 177,526 | Public | Health care | 1963 | |
2 | Cardinal Health | United States | 35 | 121,546 | Public | Pharmaceuticals | 1971 | |
3 | Microsoft | United States | 69 | 85,320 | Public | Computer software | 1975 | |
4 | Citigroup* | United States | 74 | 82,386 | Public | Banking | 1812 (Citibank/Citicorp) | |
5 | Morgan Stanley* | United States | 267 | 37,949 | Public | Finance | 1935 (the original Morgan Stanley) | |
6 | Gilead Sciences | United States | 358 | 30,392 | Public | Biotech | 1987 | |
7 | TSMC | Taiwan | 369 | 29,388 | Public | Semiconductor | 1987 | |
8 | Meta Platforms | United States | 393 | 27,638 | Public | Social networking | 2004 |
*:Merger of different companies, at least one of which was founded by Harvard alumni.
This list shows companies in Fortune 1000 (only for companies within the U.S.) founded or co-founded by Harvard alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune 1000 companies was $1,791M in 2016. [9]
Company | Fortune 1000 (2017) [10] | Revenue in US$ millions (2016) [10] | Type | Category | Year founded | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CVS | 7 | 177,526 | Public | Health care | 1963 | |
2 | Cardinal Health | 15 | 121,546 | Public | Pharmaceuticals | 1971 | |
3 | Microsoft | 28 | 85,320 | Public | Computer software | 1975 | |
4 | Citigroup* | 30 | 82,386 | Public | Banking | 1812 (Citibank/Citicorp) | |
5 | Morgan Stanley* | 76 | 37,949 | Public | Finance | 1935 (the original Morgan Stanley) | |
6 | Gilead Sciences | 92 | 30,392 | Public | Biotech | 1987 | |
7 | Meta Platforms | 98 | 27,638 | Public | Social networking | 2004 | |
8 | Thermo Fisher Scientific* | 154 | 18,274 | Public | Technology | 1956 (Thermo Electron) | |
– | Fidelity Investments** | 173† | 15,900 | Private | Financial services | 1946 | †Equivalently [11] |
9 | Textron | 200 | 13,788 | Public | Conglomerate | 1923 | |
10 | Cognizant | 204 | 13,487 | Public | IT services | 1994 | |
11 | Biogen* | 248 | 11,449 | Public | Biotechnology | 1978 | |
12 | BlackRock | 255 | 11,155 | Public | Investment management | 1988 | |
13 | Baker Hughes* | 285 | 9,841 | Public | Oil and gas | 1908 (Hughes Tool Company) | |
– | Bloomberg L.P.** | 298† | 9,400 | Private | Technology | 1981 | †Equivalently [11] |
14 | Blackstone Group | 503 | 5,126 | Public | Financial services | 1985 | |
– | Boston Consulting Group** | 510† | 5,000 | Private | Consulting | 1963 | †Equivalently [11] |
15 | Intuit | 527 | 4,831 | Public | Software | 1983 | |
16 | Electronic Arts | 556 | 4,396 | Public | Video game | 1982 | |
17 | Cabot Corporation | 829 | 2,411 | Public | Chemicals | 1882 | |
18 | Carlyle Group | 869 | 2,274 | Public | Private equity | 1987 | |
19 | Fitbit | 898 | 2,170 | Public | Electronics | 2007 |
*:Merger of different companies, at least one of which was founded by Harvard alumni.
**:Fidelity Investments, Bloomberg L.P., and Boston Consulting Group are not listed in Fortune 1000. Their revenues are provided by Forbes .
For each company, only the latest rankings (up to three years) are shown in this list.
Company | Fortune Global 500 | Fortune 1000 | Type | Category | Year founded | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Viacom Inc. | 196 (2005) | 176 (2004) | 171 (2003) [12] | 69 (2005) | 64 (2004) | 66 (2003) [13] | Dissolved | Mass media | 1971 |
2 | Sun Microsystems | - | - | - | 204 (2010) | 187 (2009) | 184 (2008) [14] | Acquired | Technology | 1982 |
3 | Polaroid | - | - | - | 742 (2001) | 694 (2000) | 705 (1999) [15] | Acquired | Photography | 1937 |
4 | 3Com | - | - | - | 827 (2003) | 596 (2002) | 294 (2000) [16] | Acquired | Technology | 1979 |
This index also contains companies listed in section "Notable defunct & dissolved".
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Harvard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3G Capital | Private | Investment | 2004 | 5 [17] |
| |
Airbnb | Private | Travel | 2008 | 3 [18] |
| |
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Non-profit | Foundation | 2000 | 2 [20] |
| |
Birchbox | Priviate | Cosmetics | 2010 | 2 [22] |
| |
Cloudera | Public | NYSE: CLDR | Software | 2008 | 4 [23] |
|
Clover Food Lab | Private | Restaurant | 2008 | 1 [25] |
| |
Public | NASDAQ: FB | Social networking | 2004 | 4 [26] |
| |
Fitbit | Public | NYSE: FIT | Electronics | 2007 | 2 [27] |
|
Jet.com | (NYSE: WMT) | E-commerce | 2014 | 3 [29] |
| |
Khan Academy | Private | Education | 2006 | 1 [31] | ||
OkCupid | (NASDAQ:IAC) | Dating service | 2001 [33] | 4 [34] | ||
Pershing Square Capital Management | Private | Investment | 2004 | 1 [39] |
| |
Quora | Private | Online Q&A | 2009 | 2 [40] |
| |
Sherpa Capital | Private | Finance | 2013 | 2[ citation needed ] |
| |
Stitch Fix | Public | NASDAQ: SFIX | Retail/styling | 2011 | 2 [43] |
|
StubHub | (NASDAQ: EBAY) | Ticket exchange | 2000 | 2 [44] |
| |
The Children's Investment Fund Management | Private | Hedge fund | 2003 | 1 [46] |
| |
TripAdvisor | Public | NASDAQ: TRIP | Web service | 2000 | 2 [48] |
|
Yelp | Public | NYSE: YELP | Web services | 2004 | 2[ citation needed ] |
|
Zynga | Public | NASDAQ: ZNGA | Social video game | 2007 | 5 [50] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Founded | Total alumni | Notable |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Access Industries | Private | Conglomerate | 1986 | 1 [52] |
| |
Alta Communications | Private | Private equity | 1996 | 2 [54] |
| |
Apollo Global Management | Public | NYSE : APO | Private equity | 1990 | 2 |
|
athenahealth | Public | NASDAQ: ATHN | Health care | 1997 | 2 [58] |
|
Bain Capital | Private | Investment | 1984 | 3 [61] |
| |
Baupost Group | Private | Investment management | 1982 | 1 [63] |
| |
BlackRock | Public | NYSE: BLK | Investment management | 1988 | 8 [65] |
|
Blackstone | Public | NYSE: BX | Financial services | 1985 | 2 [67] |
|
Bloomberg L.P. | Private | Technology | 1981 | 4 [69] |
| |
Bluemercury | (NYSE: M) | Cosmetics | 1999 | 2 [71] |
| |
Boston Beer | Public | NYSE: SAM | Beer | 1984 | 2 [72] | |
Broderbund | (NASDAQ:HMHC) | Software | 1980 | 2 [74] |
| |
Carlyle Group | Public | NASDAQ: CG | Private equity | 1987 | 3 [76] |
|
Carsey-Werner | Private | Media production | 1981 | 2 [78] |
| |
Citadel LLC | Private | Hedge fund | 1991 | 1 [80] | ||
Collabnet | Private | Cloud computing | 1999 | 2 [82] |
| |
Computervision | (NASDAQ:PTC) | Software | 1985 | 2 [84] |
| |
Cognizant | Public | NASDAQ: CTSH | IT services | 1994 | 3 [86] |
|
CQS | Private | Investment management | 1999 | 1 [88] |
| |
Electronic Arts | Public | NASDAQ: EA | Video game | 1982 | 1 [90] |
|
Evercore Partners | Public | NYSE: EVR | Investment banking | 1995 | 3 [92] |
|
Free Software Foundation | Non-profit | Computer software | 1985 | 1 [94] | ||
Gilead Sciences | Public | NASDAQ: GILD | Biotech | 1987 | 1 [95] |
|
Hellman & Friedman | Private | Private equity | 1984 | 2 [96] |
| |
Intuit | Public | NASDAQ: INTU | Software | 1983 | 2 [98] |
|
LinkExchange | (NASDAQ:MSFT) | Advertising | 1996 | 2 [100] |
| |
Lone Pine Capital | Private | Hedge fund | 1997 | 1 [103] |
| |
Monitor Group | (Deloitte) | Strategy consulting | 1983 | 6 [105] |
| |
Oxygen Media | (NASDAQ: CMCSA) | TV channel | 1998 | 5 [111] |
| |
Polaris Partners | Private | Venture capital | 1996 | 3 [113] |
| |
SparkNotes | (NYSE:BKS) | Publisher | 1999 | 4 [115] [116] | ||
Staples | Private | Office supplies | 1986 | 2 [121] |
| |
Sun Microsystems | (NYSE: ORCL) | Technology | 1982 | 4 [124] |
| |
TSMC | Public | NYSE: TSM | Semiconductor | 1987 | 1 [126] |
|
Valve | Private | Video game | 1996 | 2 [127] |
| |
York Capital Management | Private | Investment management | 1991 | 1 [128] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Harvard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3Com | (NYSE:HPE) | Technology | 1979 | 4 [129] |
| |
Biogen (OB) —> Biogen | —> Public (merged) | NASDAQ: BIIB | Biotechnology | 1978 (OB) | 5 (OB) [131] |
|
Boston Consulting Group | Private | Consulting | 1963 | 1 [133] |
| |
Bridgewater Associates | Priviate | Hedge fund | 1975 | 1 [135] | ||
Cardinal Health | Public | NYSE: CAH | Pharmaceuticals | 1971 | 1 [137] | |
CVS | Public | NYSE: CVS | Health care | 1963 | 3 [139] [140] | |
Elliott Management Corporation | Private | Hedge fund | 1977 | 1 [143] |
| |
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers | Private | Finance | 1972 | 4[ citation needed ] |
| |
Microsoft | Public | NASDAQ: MSFT | Computer software | 1975 | 2 [147] |
|
O'Reilly Media | Private | Publishing | 1978 | 1 [148] |
| |
Personal Software/Visicorp —> Paladin Software | —> Private (merged) | Technology | 1978 (Visi) | 2 (Visi) [149] |
| |
Software Arts | (NYSE:IBM) | Technology | 1979 | 2 [151] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Harvard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BBN Technologies | (NYSE:RTN) | Technology | 1948 | 3 [152] |
| |
Boston Whaler | (NYSE:BC) | Boat manufacturer | 1958 | 2 [154] [155] |
| |
Fairchild Aircraft | (NASDAQ: ESLT) | Aviation | 1925 | 1 [156] |
| |
Fidelity Investments | Private | Financial services | 1946 | 1 [158] | ||
Harvard Student Agencies | Non-profit | Student-run business | 1957 | 6 [160] |
| |
Hughes Tool Company (HTC) —> Baker Hughes | —> Public (merged) | NYSE: BHGE | Oil field services | 1908 (HTC) | 1 (HTC) [164] |
|
Morgan Stanley (OMS) | —> Public (merged) | NYSE: MS | Financial services | 1935 (OMS) | 2 (OMS) [166] |
|
The New Republic | Private | Magazine | 1914 | 3 [168] |
| |
New York City Ballet | Non-profit | Dancing | 1948 | 2 [171] |
| |
Polaroid | (PLR IP Holdings, LLC) | Photography | 1937 | 1 [173] |
| |
Textron | Public | NYSE: TXT | Conglomerate | 1923 | 1 [174] |
|
Thermo Electron (TE) | —> Public (merged) | NYSE: TMO | Technology | 1956 (TE) | 2 (TE) [176] |
|
WGBH Educational Foundation | Non-profit | Broadcasting | 1951 | 1 [177] |
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Harvard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Atlantic Monthly (now The Atlantic) | Private | Magazine | 1857 | 3 [179] |
| |
Boston Society of Natural History (now the Boston Museum of Science) | non-profit | Museum | 1830 | 7 [182] |
| |
Cabot, Cabot & Forbes | Private | Real estate | 1897 | 3 [185] |
| |
Cabot Corporation | Public | NYSE: CBT | Chemicals | 1882 | 2 [187] |
|
Citibank/CitiCorp —> Citigroup | Public | NYSE: C | Banking | 1812 (Citibank) | 15 (Citibank) [189] |
|
Conservative Life (CL) —> Pacific Life | —> Mutual (merged) | Insurance | 1880s (CL) | 1 (CL) [190] |
| |
Locks and Canals on the Merrimack River | Private | Infrastructure | 1792 | 5 [192] |
| |
Shepley Bulfinch | Private | Architecture | 1874 | 1 [194] |
| |
Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge | Private | Architecture | 1886 | 3 [196] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Harvard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3DO | Bankrupt | Video games | 1991 | 1 [198] |
| |
Boston Manufacturing Company | Defunct | Textiles | 1813 | 1 [199] | ||
Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. | Dissolved | Private equity | 1979 | 3 [201] |
| |
Carl M. Loeb & Co. | (long series of mergers leading to Morgan Stanley) | Brokerage | 1931 (Carl) | 2 (Carl) [202] [203] |
| |
National Lampoon | Defunct | Magazine | 1969 | 3 [204] |
| |
PlanetAll | (acquired by Amazon.com) | Social networking | 1996 | 2 [208] | ||
Thinking Machines Corporation | Defunct | Computer hardware | 1983 | 2 [211] |
| |
Viacom Inc. | Dissolved | Media | 1971 | 1 [212] |
|
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