Henry Wellcome left his drug company to trustees in 1936, and in 1995 they sold it to its rival Glaxo

Wellcome, born in a log cabin in Wisconsin, founded Burroughs Wellcome & Company in London in 1880 with Silas Burroughs. Burroughs died in 1895 and Wellcome took sole control. In 1924 he put the businesses into one holding company, the Wellcome Foundation Ltd. In 1901 he married Syrie Barnardo, 26 years younger; their son Henry Mounteney Wellcome was born in 1903 and was sent to foster parents at about age three. The couple separated in 1909. Wellcome's will left the company's capital to trustees to fund medical research, creating the Wellcome Trust; his son did not receive control^†. For 50 years the trust's income came from one company. In 1986 the trust sold 25% of Wellcome plc to the public^†. In 1995 it sold all its remaining shares to Glaxo, forming Glaxo Wellcome^†. In 2000 Glaxo Wellcome merged with SmithKline Beecham into GlaxoSmithKline, and the Wellcome name left the drug business^†. The trust reported an endowment of £37.6 billion in 2025^†.