We are a science and technology company dedicated to our vision “Sparking Discovery, Elevating Humanity”. In our three business sectors Life Science, Healthcare and Electronics, we work together to create value on behalf of customers and patients.
Ever since we were established in 1668, we have continuously reinvented ourselves and adopted a long-term mindset. This approach is rooted in responsibility, care and respect: for our work, our employees, our customers, patients, society, and our planet. We are committed to working toward a better future and delivering sustainable progress for humankind.
The founding family, now in its 13th generation, is still the majority owner. This is made possible by the structure of our company as a corporation with general partners (Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien – KGaA). In a KGaA, the total capital is divided between general partners and limited partners; the general partners are personally liable with their assets, while the limited partners are liable with their contributions. The founding family holds a 70.274% stake in the listed MERCK Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Darmstadt, Germany (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), as a general partner via the Group’s ultimate parent company, E. Merck Kommanditgesellschaft, Darmstadt, Germany. The remaining 29.726% of the share capital of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is traded on the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and other stock exchanges.
The assessment of business development and the allocation of financial resources are carried out by the entire management of the company for the Life Science, Healthcare and Electronics business sectors as well as the supporting Group functions. In addition to the Chair of the Executive Board and CEO Belén Garijo, the Members of the Executive Board are Kai Beckmann, Deputy Chair of the Executive Board and CEO Electronics, Dan Pinhas Bar Zohar, CEO Healthcare, Khadija Ben Hammada, Chief People Officer (CPO), Helene von Roeder, Chief Financial Officer, and Jean-Charles Wirth, CEO Life Science. Khadija Ben Hammada was named CPO and appointed to the Executive Board the Group on March 1, 2025. Jean-Charles Wirth and Dan Pinhas Bar Zohar were appointed as CEO Life Science and CEO Healthcare respectively on June 1, 2025, succeeding Matthias Heinzel and Peter Guenter on the Executive Board of the Group. On September 25, 2025, we announced that Kai Beckmann will take over the role of Belén Garijo as Chair of the Executive Board and CEO effective May 1, 2026; Belén Garijo will retain her role until the planned end of her term of office at the end of April 2026.
We hold the global rights to the company name and brand. The only exceptions are Canada and the United States. In these countries, we operate as MilliporeSigma in the Life Science business, as EMD Serono in the Healthcare business and as EMD Electronics in the Electronics business.
Apart from our three business sectors, our financial reporting presents five regions: Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. As of December 31, 2025, we had 62,461 employees1 worldwide. The figure on December 31, 2024, was 62,557 employees1.
We have summarized further details on our employees and important sustainability topics, as well as the key indicators used to monitor sustainability and the degree to which we have achieved our strategic goals, in the (Group) Sustainability Statement. The description of our business model and the value chain according to the requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS 2 SBM-1) can be found here in the “Company Profile and Structure” chapter.
For fiscal 2025, we exercise the option of publishing the Statement on Corporate Governance on the Group’s website in accordance with section 315d of the German Commercial Code (HGB) in conjunction with section 289f (1) sentence 2 HGB.
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