Company Story
1912 - Aon plc was founded as Ryan, Bracken & Aon plc, a small reinsurance brokerage firm in Chicago
1928 - The company began to expand its operations and opened its first office outside of Chicago
1950 - The company changed its name to Aon Reinsurance Company
1964 - Aon began to offer risk management services to its clients
1979 - The company was acquired by the conglomerate, American International Group (AIG)
1982 - Aon was acquired by and then subsequently separated from AIG, then went public with an IPO
1987 - The company acquired Johnson & Higgins, a major competitor
1997 - Aon acquired 49% of the reinsurance broker, Benfield Group
2001 - Benfield Group acquisition completed and Aon acquired additional shares to become the world's second-largest reinsurance broker
2008 - The company rebranded its risk management business as Aon Risk Solutions
2011 - Aon acquired Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm
2012 - The company rebranded as Aon plc, following its acquisition of Hewitt Associates
2015 - Aon announced plans to acquire Willis Towers Watson, another major insurance broker, though ultimately this was blocked
2021 - Aon completed its acquisition of Willis Re, a major reinsurance broker