Zeiss (company)

Zeiss
FormerlyCarl Zeiss
Company typePrivate
IndustryImaging
Founded1846 (1846) in Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, German Confederation
FounderCarl Zeiss
HeadquartersOberkochen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Key people
Andreas Pecher, CEO and President
ProductsSemiconductor lithography equipment, light, electron and ion microscopes, coordinate-measuring machines, medical devices, eyeglasses, binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes, planetarium projectors, and other optical equipment.
Revenue €10.894 billion (2024)
€1.444 billion (2024)
€1.031 billion (2024)
Total assets €16.088 billion (2024)
Total equity €8.190 billion (2024)
OwnerCarl-Zeiss-Stiftung
Number of employees
46,485 (2024)
Websitewww.zeiss.com

Zeiss (/zs/ ZYSE; German: [kaʁl ˈtsaɪs]) is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany, in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the foundation for today's multinational company. The current company emerged from a reunification of Carl Zeiss companies in East and West Germany with a consolidation phase in the 1990s. ZEISS is active in four business segments with approximately equal revenue (Industrial Quality and Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology) in almost 50 countries, has 30 production sites and around 25 development sites worldwide.

Carl Zeiss AG is the holding of all subsidiaries within Zeiss Group, of which Carl Zeiss Meditec AG is the only one that is traded at the stock market. Carl Zeiss AG is owned by the foundation Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. The Zeiss Group has its headquarters in southern Germany, in the small town of Oberkochen, with its second largest, and founding site, being Jena in eastern Germany. Also controlled by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung is the glass manufacturer Schott AG, located in Mainz and Jena. Carl Zeiss is one of the oldest existing optics manufacturers in the world.