What I find interesting about Leica is that there are now multiple independent companies that share the same name. Leica Camera, Leica Biosystems (rather new),

What I find interesting about Leica is that there are now multiple independent companies that share the same name. Leica Camera, Leica Biosystems (rather new), Leica Geosystems and Leica Microsystems. They have a 'brand-sharing' agreement. During the 80's Wild Heerbrugg acquired Leitz (which owned Leica) to form the Wild Leitz AG (and later part of Leica Holding B.V). For a couple of years, this was probably one of the global market leaders when it came to optical instruments. In 1996 Leica Camera AG was sold as far as I can remember. Leica Geosystems (which is basically a continuation of Wild Heerbrugg) is now part of Hexagon AB.