IBM was founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911.
Financier Charles Ranlett Flint created the holding company on June 16, 1911, by amalgamating four businesses: the Tabulating Machine Company, International Time Recording Company, Computing Scale Company of America, and Bundy Manufacturing Company. Together, they made punched-card tabulators, time-recording equipment, commercial scales, and other office machinery.
The new company was commonly abbreviated as CTR, but the hyphenated name did not suit its broader ambitions. Thomas J. Watson, who joined CTR in 1914 and became its president in 1915, promoted the name International Business Machines. The corporation officially adopted IBM in 1924.
A frequent misconception is that IBM began as a computer manufacturer. Its early products were largely electromechanical business machines, especially punched-card data-processing equipment. The company’s later success in mainframes, personal computers, and enterprise technology grew from that earlier expertise in organizing and processing information.