List of companies founded by Harvard University alumni
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 are not included in this list. This list is not exhaustive, as it only includes notable companies of 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. 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.
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 without dissolving, merging or being acquired.
Top companies by revenues
Fortune Global 500 (2017)
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 $21,609M in 2016.| Company | Region | Fortune Global 500 | Revenue in US$ millions | 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 | |
| 5 | Morgan Stanley* | United States | 267 | 37,949 | Public | Finance | 1935 | |
| 6 | Gilead Sciences | United States | 358 | 30,392 | Public | Biotech | 1987 | |
| 7 | TSMC | Taiwan | 369 | 29,388 | Public | Semiconductor | 1987 | |
| 8 | United States | 393 | 27,638 | Public | Social networking | 2004 |
Fortune 1000 (2017)
This list shows companies in Fortune 1000 founded or co-founded by Harvard alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune 1000 companies was $1,791M in 2016.| Company | Fortune 1000 | Revenue in US$ millions | 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 | |
| 5 | Morgan Stanley* | 76 | 37,949 | Public | Finance | 1935 | |
| 6 | Gilead Sciences | 92 | 30,392 | Public | Biotech | 1987 | |
| 7 | 98 | 27,638 | Public | Social networking | 2004 | ||
| 8 | Thermo Fisher Scientific* | 154 | 18,274 | Public | Technology | 1956 | |
| Fidelity Investments** | 173† | 15,900 | Private | Financial services | 1946 | † Equivalently | |
| 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 | |
| Bloomberg L.P.** | 298† | 9,400 | Private | Technology | 1981 | † Equivalently | |
| 14 | Blackstone Group | 503 | 5,126 | Public | Financial services | 1985 | |
| Boston Consulting Group** | 510† | 5,000 | Private | Consulting | 1963 | † Equivalently | |
| 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 |