David Packard, co-founder of HP

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

David Packard, during his legendary fifty-year career, had a great influence not only on the development of the electronics industry. Together with William Hewlett, he introduced a system of progressive management methods. Now Hewlett Packard has become a multinational corporation for the production of scientific equipment, communications and computers. HP is known worldwide for the highest quality of service and products. This article will describe a brief biography of one of its founders.

Meet Hewlett

David Packard was born in Pueblo (USA) in 1912. The boy's father was a very famous lawyer. When it came time to graduate, David opted for Stanford University. The young man was very interested in electrical engineering. Therefore, he was among the first students of the course of Professor Frederick Terman. There Packard learned a lot about radio electronics. On this course, Davidand met William Hewlett, who was an engineering student. Young people decided that in the future they would definitely open a joint business. After graduating, they both stayed to work within the walls of the alma mater.

Founding a company

The thought of starting their own business never left their minds. In 1939, Hewlett and Packard decided to bring it to life. With a capital of $538, the young people opened Hewlett-Packard (HP). The name is quite clear that it is made up of the names of the founders. The question of priority was decided by drawing lots. HP's first office was a garage in Palo Alto, which would become a California landmark and a popular tourist attraction in the future. It was here that Hewlett came up with an audio frequency generator for testing audio systems. David and William received their first order from W alt Disney Studios. The company purchased several of these generators to improve the soundtrack of its animated film "Fantasy".

New office

In 1951, Frederick Terman took over as vice president of Stanford University. In order to improve the financial situation of the alma mater, the professor began to lease land belonging to the educational institution on a long-term basis. On one of them, the Hewlett-Packard company settled in 1954. From here began the founding of the Silicon Valley, which in two decades will become the world center of electronics.

Company Value System

David and William from the very beginning of their activities decideddo not work according to the rule "grabbed and ran." Back in the 1940s, they focused on the formation of loyal highly qualified personnel. The entrepreneurs also created a program of income distribution among all employees of the company. It is still active today and is called the Packard and Hewlett Way. The program is based on a whole range of values leading to the main principle of the company's development - constant movement forward, taking into account market transformations, as well as regular concern for the quality of life of our own employees.

First computer

In 1957, David Packard and William Hewlett organized a public offering of their company's shares. But they kept most of them so that in the future employees of the company could purchase securities at a discount. In 1959 HP entered the European market. And in 1966, Hewlett-Packard engineers assembled the first computer. His primary task was to analyze the results of the operation of electronic measuring instruments. In the future, HP computers often used innovative and bold engineering solutions. And if we consider the technical characteristics, then they repeatedly surpassed the most common models of competing firms.

USSR

In 1968, the company began its activities in the Soviet Union. Since the late 1990s, the company's official representative offices have been operating in Novosibirsk, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Russia, Hewlett-Packard is more popular as a manufacturer of peripheral devices: MFPs (OfficeJet), scanners (ScanJet), plotters(DesignJet), laser (LaserJet) and inkjet printers (DeskJet). Network equipment of the ProCurve series is also in demand.

Retirement

David Packard became president of HP back in 1947. And seventeen years later he ceded this position to William Hewlett, heading the board of directors. He held this post until 1993, with a break in 1969-1971, when he worked as Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States. After the hero of this article turned 65 years old, he retired. Nevertheless, he did not leave the post of chairman of the board of directors.

Writing

Business is not all that David Packard did. The HP Way is the title of a book written by an entrepreneur. There, he spoke in detail about how he created the company with Bill Hewlett.

Death

David Packard, whose biography is presented above, died in 1996. Four children accompanied him on his last journey. Previously, the businessman announced his intention to transfer his shares to a charitable foundation, created by him and his wife in 1964. David owned 9.1% of HP's shares, worth $46.6 million.