Founded in 1971 as Cardinal Foods by Robert D. Walter, the company was initially a food wholesaler. After acquiring the Bailey Drug Company in 1979, it began wholesaling drugs as Cardinal Distribution, Incorporated. The company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1983 and subsequently began a long string of acquisitions and mergers. In 1988, Walter sold Cardinal Health's food operations to Roundy's. From 1991 to 1996, the company’s sales grew from $1.2 billion to $8.9 billion. The company changed its name to Cardinal Health in 1994 and became the third-largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in the United States.
R. Kerry Clark, a former executive and vice chairman at Procter & Gamble, was appointed president and CEO in April 2006, with Robert D. Walter retaining Chairmanship of the board. In September 2008, the company announced Clark and Walter would retire and George S. Barrett would become the chairman and CEO.
Cardinal Health completed the spin-off of its clinical and medical products and nuclear businesses into an independent medical technology company called CareFusion in 2009 with David Schlotterbeck as CEO Cardinal Health is now traded on the NYSE under symbol CAH. As of April 2014, it was ranked 22 on the Fortune 500 list with FY2014 annual revenue of $91 billion. The firm employs 34,000 people worldwide.