ABB

ABB Ltd.
Trade name	ABB
Company type	Public
Traded as	SIX: ABBN; Nasdaq Stockholm: ABB; OTC Pink: ABB; SMI component; OMX Stockholm 30 component;
ISIN	CH0012221716
Industry	Electrical equipment
Predecessors	Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA); Brown, Boveri & Cie;
Founded	1988
Headquarters	Zurich, Switzerland
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Peter Voser (chairman); Morten Wierod (CEO);
Revenue	US$32.85 billion (2024)
Operating income	US$5.07 billion (2024)
Net income	US$3.93 billion (2024)
Total assets	US$40.36 billion (2024)
Total equity	US$15.06 billion (2024)
Owners	Investor AB (14.3%); BlackRock (4.17%); UBS Fund Management (5%);
Number of employees	c. 109,900 (2024)
Website	global.abb
	Footnotes / references;

ABB Ltd is an international technology company, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, that operates in the fields of electrification and automation. The company was formed in 1988 from the merger of two electrical engineering companies, ASEA of Sweden and Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC) of Switzerland. ABB is dual-listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich and the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, in addition to OTC Markets Group's pink sheets in the United States. For 30 years, it has been a part of the Fortune Global 500.

ABB is made up of around 20 divisions structured into four business areas: Electrification, Motion, Process Automation and Robotics & Discrete Automation. Previously, it had a large power grids business, which was sold to Hitachi in 2020, as well as a turbocharging business, that was spun off in 2022. Over the years, ABB made numerous acquisitions, with major ones in the 21st century including Baldor Electric, Thomas & Betts, and the GE Industrial Solutions division of General Electric.

Employees of ABB and its predecessor companies developed several technologies for generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity, as well as for enabling industrial automation. One is the miniature circuit breaker, invented by Hugo Stotz, which protects against fires and is found in almost every home. Predecessor ASEA was the first company to introduce a microprocessor into an industrial robot and it helped to develop the electric propulsion system “Azipod”, which improved manoeuvrability by locating the propulsion system outside the hull.

The company's activities have been the subject of controversy on multiple occasions. US-based Combustion Engineering, acquired by ABB in 1990, exposed the company to asbestos-related litigation, which led to ABB’s first-ever loss in 2001. A final claims settlement was reached in 2006. ABB has also been subject to three US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bribery settlements in 2004, 2010, and 2022. Additionally, in 2001, an ABB entity pleaded guilty to bid rigging.