Company: International Business Machines (IBM, initially named as Tabulating Machine Company)

Founder: Herman Hollerith

Industry: Computers, Software, and Electronics

History:

The Tabulating Machine Company was founded by Herman Hollerith in 1888. By June 16, 1911, the company was incorporated and was renamed to Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation. The name was changed again to its current, well-known moniker, International Business Machine, or simply IBM, in 1924 when it was included in the list of Fortune 500 Companies.

Writer Edwin Black claimed that during the Second World War, IBM CEO Thomas Watson sold the Nazis myriad machinery and services that consequently helped the German army track down European Jews. IBM, however, denied the allegations and all charges regarding the information leakage were dropped.

In the 1950s, IBM became a powerhouse in the computer industry with the release of their first computer model, IBM 701. In the succeeding decades, the company rapidly designed and manufactured other models and this subsequently made IBM a globally recognized brand during the 1960s and the 1970s. The emergence of minicomputers and the rise of other computer companies like Digital Equipment Corporation and Data General however, weakened the company’s hold on the computer market, prompting them to diversify their product lines.

In 1981, the IBM Personal Computer was launched; its design was so revolutionary that it standardized the personal computer platform; today, it is widely considered as the progenitor of modern-day personal computers.

In 2005, IBM sold its stock to Chinese company Lenovo for $655 million in cash and $600 million worth of Lenovo stock.

Currently, IBM is working on “Eclipse”, a Java-based software network.

Listed below are some of IBM’s notable computer programs and software technologies:

• Flexible Internet Evaluation Report Architecture
• IBM History Flow Visualization Application
• IBM Linux on POWER Performance Simulator
• Accessibility Browser
• FairUCE
• Policy Management for Autonomic Computing

Leadership:

Current members of the board of directors of IBM are:

• Cathleen Black – President, Hearst Magazines
• William Brody – President, Johns Hopkins University
• Ken Chenault – Chairman and CEO, American Express Company
• Juergen Dormann – Chairman of the Board, ABB Ltd
• Michael Eskew – -Chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service, Inc.
• Shirley Ann Jackson – President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Minoru Makihara – Senior Corporate Advisor and former Chairman, Mitsubishi Corporation
• Lucio Noto – Managing Partner, Midstream Partners LLC
• James W. Owens – -Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.
• Samuel J. Palmisano – -Chairman, President and CEO, IBM
• Joan Spero – President, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Sidney Taurell – Chairman and CEO, Eli Lilly and Company
• Lorenzo Zambrano – Chairman and CEO, Cemex SAB de CV

Trivia: IBM developed “Deep Blue”, software designed to analyze chess moves. In 1997, Chess Grandmaster Kasparov played against Deep Blue. The chess wizard was defeated two games to one. Kasparov believed that he was cheated and demanded a rematch. IBM declined the challenge.