Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard (HP), born in a Palo Alto garage in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, was the original Silicon Valley startup long before the term became a badge of honor. The company built its empire on oscillators and calculators, eventually becoming synonymous with reliable printers and workhorse PCs. However, the 21st century wasn’t kind to HP, as a series of misguided acquisitions—hello, Autonomy—and revolving-door CEOs led to a messy split in 2015, birthing two companies: HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The saga of Carly Fiorina’s controversial tenure, marked by the disastrous Compaq merger, remains a textbook case of corporate hubris. Despite these stumbles, HP’s legacy as a tech pioneer is secure, even if its current existence feels more like a nostalgic footnote than the innovation powerhouse it once was. HP may still print money, but the ink is running low on the grand vision that started it all.