HP co-founder William Hewlett dies at 87

Peter Henderson

SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard Co. co-founder William Hewlett, who helped
launch a technology revolution out of a Silicon Valley garage, died on Friday
morning in his sleep, the company said.

Hewlett, 87, and David Packard, who died in 1996, founded their company in
1939. One of their first sales of electronic equipment was to Walt Disney
Studios, which used it to perfect the soundtrack of the animated movie
"Fantasia."

The pioneers built a company known for technological innovations, such as the
first pocket calculator, and became examples for their dedication to employees
and philanthropy.

Begun in a one-car garage with $538, Hewlett-Packard is now a computer and
printer powerhouse with nearly $50 billion in annual sales. It also spun off
Agilent Technologies Inc., a $11 billion testing equipment firm.

The company started in the shadow of the Depression, leading the young
businessmen, Hewlett and Packard, to be careful with their money but generous
with their employees, embracing a management style that has become known as the
"HP Way."

"When I was born...there was no money, so we said: We don't want to
borrow money. People who'd borrowed money had gotten into trouble," Hewlett
said in a 1997 interview on the Web site of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San
Jose, where he was a major donor.

"We also said: 'We don't want to hire and fire in our company' and
things like that. Really reflected our background of what it was like to be in a
bad economy."

Apple Computer was inspired by HP in part, said founder Steve Jobs, who got a
summer job at Hewlett-Packard after calling Bill Hewlett at home.

"What I learned that summer at Bill and Dave's company was the blueprint
we used for Apple," Jobs said in a statement. "Today marks the passing
of their era, but their spirit lives on in every company in this valley."

Hewlett gave up his active role in running the company in 1978, when he
retired from the post of CEO, and was named board director emeritus in 1987.

Peter B Giles, President of the Tech Museum, said in an interview with
Reuters that Hewlett was forever curious and had as a philanthropist supported
conflict resolution, education and the arts.

"There have been a lot of people giving money and investing in community
that are doing it because of Bill's example," he said.

Hewlett also was known for his sense of humor. In college, he said, he packed
a doorknob with explosives and blew it up as a prank. "'Course, I didn't
get caught," he said.

Hewlett and Packard met at Stanford University, based in Palo Alto, Calif.,
in the heart of what has since become known as Silicon Valley.

Encouraged by a professor at the university, which has produced scores of
technology entrepreneurs since, the two decided to start a business selling
practical applications in the nascent field of electronics from Packard's
garage, which has been designated a California state historical landmark.

Agilent Chief Executive Ned Barnholt remembers Hewlett's down-to-earth,
approachable attitude when he joined the company 34 years ago.

A few months after joining, Barnholt said, he was stunned to see Hewlett, who
had watched engineers building a stereo, lug in his own home sound system and
ask for it to be fixed.

In business and in the community, Hewlett always asked what kind of
contribution the company, and individuals, were making, he said.

William Redington Hewlett was born on May 20, 1913, in Ann Arbor, Michigan
and at the age of three moved to California, where his father, a physician,
joined the faculty of Stanford Medical School.

Hewlett and Packard donated more than $300 million to Stanford over the
years.

Hewlett is survived by his second wife, Rosemary, five children and five
stepchildren.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.