Business Breakthroughs: HP Milestones

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Every company reaches milestones in its life, moments that mark its growth and indicate its future. Explore the progression of Hewlett-Packard Company with this collection, which chronicles major developments in the company’s continuing growth from the hiring of the company’s first employee to its inclusion on the Fortune 500 list.

Photo of Harvey Zieber, Hewlett-Packard's first employee, with a welding helmet and blow torch.
Harvey Zieber: HP’s First Employee
Photo of the corporate seal embossing stamp for Hewlett-Packard (side view).
The Incorporation of Hewlett-Packard
Dave Packard speaking with an employee near a CRT monitor displaying 10,000th on its screen in 1977.
Celebrating 10,000 CRTs
Two men review plans at the new HP site at Stanford Industrial Park in 1957, the site of HP's future headquarters campus.
Home Address: Stanford Research Park
Workers replace Compaq signage with an HP logo after the merger in 2002. The Compaq letters remain on a nearby surface.
A Pact with Compaq
Photo of a Dynac display featuring the lowercase hp logo turned upside down (becoming dy).
Turning “HP” Upside Down
From Left to Right: Barney Oliver, Don Hammond, Paul Stoft, John Cage, Tom Perkins and John Atalla.
Launching HP Labs
A document outlining Hewlett-Packard’s first formal set of corporate objectives.
Codifying the HP Way: Sonoma Meeting
A document dated July 10, 1962, announcing HP was a Fortune 500 for the first time.
A Fortune 500 Company
Dave Packard (left) with NYSE President G. Keith Funston (center) and Mortimer Marcus (right), a stock specialist.
Stock Option: HP on the NYSE