Merck, a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, was recently ranked No. 1 on Newsweek’s annual list of America’s Most Responsible Companies, for the second year in a row.
To determine the 2025 list, Newsweek partnered with Statista, a global research and data firm, to analyze 2,000 of the country’s largest public companies by revenue. It ranked the top 600 companies on their corporate responsibility encompassing environmental, social and corporate governance, in an analysis based on 30 key performance indicators, such as energy usage and charitable donations, as well as a reputation survey of more than 26,000 U.S. consumers.
The top overall position for 2025 is held by Merck, a global health care company that delivers innovative health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products. Merck, known internationally as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada, earned the No. 1 spot with a score of 97.83 out of 100.
General Mills, the Minnesota-based consumer products giant, ranked second with a score of 96.85. The California-based biotechnology firm Illumina ranked third with a score of 92.56.
“We hold ourselves to the highest standards of ethics and integrity,” said Robert M. Davis, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. “A firm belief in the importance of operating responsibly is at the heart of who we are as a company, and we will continue to demonstrate this core value as we work to deliver on our purpose of saving and improving lives.”
This year, Merck also ranked No. 1 in its industry on CNBC and JUST Capital’s list of America’s Most JUST Companies and Barron’s list of the 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies, the company said in a Dec. 5 statement.
A total of 21 New Jersey-based companies in all earned a place on Newsweek’s Most Responsible Companies rankings for 2025. NJBIA members on that list of 600 included: Merck; PSEG the state’s largest utility headquartered in Newark; Church & Dwight a consumer products company headquartered in Ewing; Prudential, a multinational financial services and insurance company headquartered in Newark, and New Jersey American Water, a water and wastewater utility headquartered in Camden.
