Siemens
German technology company founded in 1847 as a Berlin telegraph workshop and now one of the world's largest industrial-technology groups, led by CEO Roland Busch, which has reshaped itself around industrial software with the Altair and Dotmatics acquisitions.
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- Location
- Berlin and Munich, Germany
- Country
- Germany
- Founded
- October 1, 1847, Berlin, by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske
- First product
- The pointer telegraph
- Focus
- Industry, infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare
- CEO
- Roland Busch (President and CEO since February 2021)
- Fiscal 2025
- Revenue €78.9 billion; net income €10.4 billion (record); about 318,000 employees
- Majority stake
- Siemens Healthineers (listed medical-technology company)
- Signature acquisitions
- Altair Engineering (~$10B, completed March 2025); Dotmatics ($5.1B, completed July 2025)
Overview
Siemens AG is a German technology company headquartered in Berlin and Munich that traces its origins to a ten-person Berlin workshop founded on October 1, 1847, and now employs about 318,000 people with annual revenue of €78.9 billion (Siemens AG; Siemens AG). It focuses on industry, infrastructure, mobility and healthcare, and under President and CEO Roland Busch it has been reshaping itself from a classic industrial conglomerate into an industrial-software company — most visibly by acquiring Altair Engineering in 2025 and folding it into the Siemens Xcelerator platform.
The company began as Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske, founded by Werner von Siemens and precision mechanic Johann Georg Halske (Siemens AG). Operations started on October 12, 1847, in a courtyard workshop on Schoeneberger Strasse in Berlin, making pointer telegraphs — Werner’s invention, which used electricity to transmit messages faster and more reliably than before (Siemens AG). The pattern of that first century — a laboratory invention turned into an industrial business — repeated with the dynamo machine of 1866, the first device able to convert mechanical energy into electric power economically, which paved the way for the age of electricity (Siemens AG). Siemens was also early on social policy for its time, introducing an employee pension fund in 1872, roughly twenty years before comparable German state benefits (Siemens AG).
From conglomerate to ecosystem
For most of its history Siemens grew by accumulating businesses, from power generation to medical imaging to trains. The reversal of that logic — the defining corporate story of its recent decades — came under the Vision 2020+ strategy: give each business entrepreneurial independence under the shared Siemens brand (Siemens AG). Siemens Healthineers, the medical-technology business, was listed separately in March 2018, with Siemens keeping a majority stake (Siemens AG). Then, on September 28, 2020, Siemens Energy was listed in Frankfurt after Siemens spun off 55 percent of it to its own shareholders and transferred a further 9.9 percent to its pension trust, leaving the three companies — Siemens AG, Healthineers and Energy — to work together “within an ecosystem of common interests” rather than inside one conglomerate (Siemens AG). The slimmed-down Siemens AG, with some 240,000 employees at that point, concentrated on digital transformation of industry, smart infrastructure and sustainable transportation (Siemens AG).
The next phase was about software, not shedding. On June 29, 2022, Siemens launched Siemens Xcelerator, an open digital business platform for industry, buildings, grids and mobility, combining a curated portfolio of IoT-enabled hardware, software and services with a partner ecosystem and a marketplace (Siemens AG). The platform became the frame for the company’s biggest software bets. The stat that captures the pivot: Siemens says it has invested over $100 billion in the United States over the past twenty years, and its two largest recent software deals both landed in 2025 (Siemens AG).
The Altair and Dotmatics acquisitions
On October 30, 2024, Siemens agreed to acquire Altair Engineering, the Troy, Michigan simulation-software company founded by James Scapa, at $113 per share in cash (Siemens AG). The price is quoted two ways, and both are correct: Altair announced an equity value of about $10.6 billion, while Siemens announced an enterprise value of about $10 billion — equity value counts only the shares, enterprise value adjusts for cash and debt (Altair Engineering Inc. via GlobeNewswire; Siemens AG). The deal, fully cash-financed, was expected to add about €600 million — 8 percent — to Siemens’ digital business revenue and to become earnings-accretive about two years after closing (Siemens AG). Siemens completed it on March 26, 2025, adding Altair’s mechanical and electromagnetic simulation, high-performance computing, data science and AI capabilities to Xcelerator under its ONE Tech Company growth program (Siemens AG; Manufacturing Dive).
Four months later, on July 1, 2025, Siemens completed the $5.1 billion acquisition of Dotmatics, a Boston-based provider of life-sciences R&D software, folding it into Digital Industries Software and extending its product-lifecycle-management portfolio into life sciences (Siemens AG). Siemens said the deal expands its addressable market for industrial software by $11 billion and that Dotmatics was expected to generate more than $300 million in fiscal 2025 revenue at an adjusted EBITDA margin above 40 percent (Siemens AG).
The results followed. In fiscal 2025, which ended September 30, 2025, Siemens generated revenue of €78.9 billion, up 5 percent on a comparable basis, and net income of €10.4 billion, up 16 percent — a record for the third consecutive year — with free cash flow of €10.8 billion, also a record (Siemens AG). The company’s stated ambition under the ONE Tech Company program is to double its digital business revenue by 2030 (Siemens AG).
| Milestone | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Telegraph workshop founded | Oct 1847 | Pointer telegraph, 10 employees |
| Dynamo machine | 1866 | Economic conversion of mechanical to electric power |
| Healthineers listed | Mar 2018 | Medical tech separated, majority stake kept |
| Energy spun off | Sep 2020 | 55% to shareholders; ecosystem replaces conglomerate |
| Xcelerator launched | Jun 2022 | Open digital business platform |
| Altair acquired | Mar 2025 | ~$10B EV; simulation + HPC + AI into Xcelerator |
| Dotmatics acquired | Jul 2025 | $5.1B EV; PLM extended into life sciences |
| Record fiscal year | FY2025 | €78.9B revenue, €10.4B net income |
What this profile does not claim
- The 1966 three-company merger that formed the modern Siemens AG is not asserted in the body, because it was not verified in a fully-read source during this round.
- Siemens’ current percentage stake in Siemens Energy is not stated; only the minority stake described in the 2020 release is claimed.
- The premium to Altair’s October 21, 2024 close is stated as 19%, matching both parties’ releases; the existing Altair profile’s 18.7% figure from a wire report is flagged as an unresolved rounding-or-basis difference.
- Segment-level revenue for Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure and Mobility is not broken out, because no fully-read source supplied it.
- Nothing is claimed about Siemens’ businesses after fiscal 2025 beyond the FY2026 outlook figures stated in the November 2025 release.
Timeline
- 1847
- Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske formally found Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske in Berlin on October 1; operations begin October 12 with ten employees making pointer telegraphs
- 1866
- Werner von Siemens invents the dynamo machine, the first device able to convert mechanical energy into electric power economically
- 1872
- Siemens introduces an employee pension fund, about twenty years before comparable German state benefits
- 2018
- Siemens Healthineers lists on the stock exchange in March as a separately managed company; Siemens retains a majority stake
- 2020
- Siemens Energy lists in Frankfurt on September 28 after Siemens spins off 55 percent to its shareholders, completing the Vision 2020+ realignment
- 2022
- Siemens launches the Siemens Xcelerator open digital business platform on June 29
- 2025
- Completes the Altair acquisition on March 26 (~$10B enterprise value) and the Dotmatics acquisition on July 1 ($5.1B); fiscal 2025 net income reaches a record €10.4 billion
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The 1966 merger of Siemens & Halske, Siemens-Schuckert and Siemens-Reiniger-Werke into the modern Siemens AG was not verified in a fully-read source this round and is not asserted in the body
- Siemens' current percentage stake in Siemens Energy was not verified in a fully-read source; only the minority stake described in the 2020 release is claimed
- The premium to Altair's October 21, 2024 close is 19% in both parties' releases; the existing Altair profile cites 18.7% from a wire report, flagged here as an unresolved rounding-or-basis difference
- Segment-level revenue (Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure, Mobility) was not broken out from fully-read sources and is not claimed
Sources
10 sources (2 tier 2, 8 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Built from sources fetched and read in full. Siemens' own releases (first-party) carry the company's history, deal terms and financials; they are corroborated where possible by independent trade press for the Altair deal and by Manufacturing Digital (tier2) for the CEO and current scale and by Manufacturing Dive (tier2) for the Altair completion, Troy headquarters and largest-acquisition status. No Wikipedia content is cited. The Altair price is stated both ways deliberately: about $10.6 billion in equity value (Altair's announcement) and about $10 billion in enterprise value (Siemens' announcement and completion release).
- Supports: Independent corroboration of Busch as President and CEO, ~300,000 employees, close to €80B revenue, Munich HQ; Xcelerator–NVIDIA industrial metaverse context Open original source
- Supports: Independent corroboration: Siemens completed the Altair acquisition in March 2025 at ~$10 billion; Altair is Troy, Michigan-based; deal is Siemens' largest acquisition to date and part of the ONE Tech Company program; Busch quotes on digital twin and digital revenue Open original source
- Siemens 175th birthday press release First-partySupports: Founding Oct 1, 1847 (operations Oct 12, ten employees, pointer telegraphs, Schoeneberger Strasse workshop); dynamo machine 1866; pension fund 1872; ~300,000 employees and ~€62B revenue at 175 years; Germany FY2021: 86,000 employees, €11B+ revenue Open original source
- Supports: Siemens Energy Frankfurt listing Sept 28, 2020; 55% spun off to shareholders, 9.9% to pension trust, further reduction intended within 12–18 months; three independent companies in an ecosystem of common interests; Healthineers listed March 2018, Varian acquisition announced Aug 2020; Busch as 'Deputy CEO – and future CEO'; minority stake in Siemens Energy; FY2019 revenue €58.5B, net income €5.6B, ~295,000 employees Open original source
- Siemens Xcelerator – an open digital business platform to accelerate digital transformation First-partySupports: Xcelerator launch June 29, 2022; open digital business platform for industry, buildings, grids, mobility; portfolio + ecosystem + marketplace structure Open original source
- Siemens strengthens leadership in industrial software and AI with acquisition of Altair Engineering First-partySupports: Altair agreement: $113/share, ~$10B enterprise value, 19% premium to Oct 21, 2024 close; fully cash-financed; EPS accretive two years post-closing; +€600M (+8%) digital revenue; Altair 3,500+ employees, ~1,400 R&D; Busch and Scapa quotes; Innomotics proceeds supporting deleveraging Open original source
- Supports: Altair's side of the price: $113/share = ~$10.6B equity value; 19% premium to Oct 21, 2024 close; 13% premium to unaffected all-time high; unanimous board; expected close H2 2025; delisting Open original source
- Siemens acquires Altair to create most complete AI-powered portfolio of industrial software First-partySupports: Completion March 26, 2025 at ~$10B enterprise value; capabilities added (mechanical/electromagnetic simulation, HPC, data science, AI); ONE Tech Company program; Busch completion quote; FY2024 revenue €75.9B, net income €9.0B, ~312,000 employees; $100B invested in the US over 20 years; focus on industry, infrastructure, mobility, healthcare; majority stake in Healthineers Open original source
- Siemens completes acquisition of Dotmatics First-partySupports: Dotmatics completion July 1, 2025, $5.1B enterprise value; Boston-based Life Sciences R&D software, Insight Partners portfolio; joins Digital Industries Software; TAM +$11B; FY2025 revenue $300M+ at 40%+ EBITDA margin; synergies $100M/yr medium-term, $500M+/yr long-term; Busch quote Open original source
- Supports: Fiscal 2025: revenue €78.9B (+5% comparable), net income €10.4B (+16%, third consecutive record), orders €88.4B (+6% comparable), free cash flow €10.8B record; FY2026 outlook 6–8% comparable revenue growth, EPS pre PPA €10.40–11.00; ambition to double digital business revenue by 2030; dividend €5.35 proposed Open original source
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