CVS Health has grown from a single store to a healthcare giant, operating pharmacies, a major insurer and primary and home care clinics.
Here are 40 things to know about CVS Health and its subsidiaries.
Editor’s note: This story was first published in June 2023 and updated May 27, 2025.
History
1. The first CVS Health store, which sold health and beauty products, opened in Lowell, Mass., in 1963.
2. By 1988, the pharmacy chain had 750 stores.
3. In 2006, the company acquired MinuteClinic, an in-store health clinic.
4. The company acquired pharmacy benefit manager Caremark in 2007.
5. In 2015, the company acquired Target’s pharmacies for $1.9 billion.
6. In 2018, CVS Health acquired Aetna in a $70 billion deal, the largest healthcare merger in U.S. history.
7. The company operates more than 9,000 retail stores and more than 1,100 in-store clinics.
8. After acquiring Aetna, the company said it would shift its focus from retail to healthcare, dedicating more in-store space to provider services. In 2021, the company said it would close 900 stores over the next three years.
Fast facts
9. CVS Health is headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I.
10. The company has more than 300,000 employees, according to its 2024 year-end report.
11. CVS Health was ranked sixth in the Fortune 500 in 2024. It was the second-largest healthcare company in the U.S., behind UnitedHealth Group.
12. The company brought in $372.8 billion in revenue in 2024.
13. The health services segment made up around 46% of the company’s $94.6 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2025.
14. Health benefits, including Aetna, and pharmacy and consumer wellness made up around 35% of the company’s first-quarter revenue.
15. The company reported $1.8 billion in profit in the first quarter of 2025.
Leadership
16. CVS Health has made several leadership changes in the past year after a series of financial struggles. The company has named a new CEO, CFO, chief medical officer, head of Aetna and president of CVS Caremark.
17. David Joyner was named CEO of CVS Health in October. He was most recently president of CVS Caremark.
18. Mr. Joyner was paid $17.8 million in total compensation in 2024.
19. In April, the company named Brian Newman as CFO. He was previously CFO at UPS.
20. The median employee-to-CEO pay ratio at the company was 299:1 in 2024. CVS employees were paid a median salary of around $61,000 in 2024.
21. Roger Farah is the chair of CVS Health’s board, a role he has held since 2022. He is the former co-chief executive officer and executive director of retailer Tory Burch. He also serves on the board of jewelry retailer Tiffany and Co. and auto insurer Progressive.
Aetna
22. Aetna was first established as the Aetna Life Insurance company in 1819, headquartered in Hartford, Conn.
23. The company created its HMO subsidiary in 1975.
24. Aetna acquired Prudential Health in 1998 for $1 billion, creating the largest managed-care company at the time, with 22.4 million members.
25. Aetna had 27.1 million medical insurance members at the end of the first quarter of 2025.
26. The payer had 19.2 million commercial members in the first quarter of 2025.
27. Aetna is the third-largest Medicare Advantage provider, behind UnitedHealthcare and Humana. The insurer had 4.2 million MA members at the end of the first quarter of 2025.
28. The company had 2.3 million Medicaid managed care members at the end of the first quarter of 2025.
29. In November, Steve Nelson was named president of Aetna. Mr. Nelson previously held several executive positions at UnitedHealthcare and was most recently CEO of ChenMed.
Recent acquisitions
30. In May 2023, CVS Health completed its acquisition of primary care company Oak Street Health in a $10.6 billion deal. Chicago-based Oak Street Health operates more than 160 clinics in 21 states.
31. In March, the company closed its acquisition of Signify Health, which provides analytics and technology to payers, in an $8 billion deal. Signify Health will still serve its 50 health plan clients, but Aetna will benefit from the home-health focused company’s extensive value-based care network.
32. In May 2023, former CEO Karen Lynch said the company will slow down on mergers and acquisitions to integrate the two multibillion dollar assets it purchased in the first months of 2023.
Recent headlines
33. CVS Health is set to acquire several Rite Aid pharmacies in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
34. Aetna is one of several Medicare Advantage insurers and brokers being sued by the Justice Department, alleging the insurers were involved in a multi-year scheme involving unlawful kickbacks and discriminatory practices against disabled enrollees.
35. Aetna will exit the ACA exchange in 2026, citing continued underperformance in the individual market. Aetna has 1 million individual members in 17 states.
36. CVS Health expects Aetna to operate at a loss in 2025. Mr. Joyner told investors CVS has “made material progress” toward stabilizing margins in the business.
37. In 2024, CVS leadership considered a plan to break up the divisions of the company, facing challenges in its Medicare Advantage and Oak Street Health businesses. The company did not go through with the breakup, striking a deal with hedge fund investor Glen View Capital and adding four additional members to the company’s board.
38. In 2024, CVS began implementing a plan to cut $2 billion in costs, including laying off 2,900 employees, streamlining operations and implementing AI tools. The company laid off more than 400 employees at Aetna’s headquarters in 2024 and more than 600 employees at CVS’ headquarters.
39. The Federal Trade Commission is suing CVS Caremark, OptumRx and Express Scripts, alleging the PBMs artificially inflated the prices of insulin.
40. In September, Oak Street Health agreed to pay $60 million to settle allegations it offered kickbacks to third-party insurance agents in return for referring older adults to its primary care clinics.
