Which company was formed in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in a Palo Alto garage?

Hewlett-Packard was formed in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in a Palo Alto garage.

Hewlett and Packard founded the company after meeting at Stanford University and working with professor Frederick Terman. Their first product was an audio oscillator, and Walt Disney Studios became an early customer by buying oscillators for sound work on the film Fantasia.

The company later became a major producer of scientific instruments, calculators, printers, and personal computers. In 2015, Hewlett-Packard split into two public companies: HP Inc., focused mainly on personal systems and printing, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, focused on enterprise technology.

This history matters when reading market-cap lists because “HP” can refer to different corporate successors. The original Hewlett-Packard is not the same listed entity as either HP Inc. or Hewlett Packard Enterprise, even though both inherited parts of its business history.