Corporations: Reluctant Tycoons

David Packard, 50, and William R. Hewlett, 49, are shirtsleeved electrical engineers whose idea of a satisfying day's work is just puttering about in a laboratory. Somewhat to their bemusement, Packard and Hewlett now find themselves running a $100 million corporation that won't stop growing. In the 24 years since they went into business together, their Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, Calif., has grown from a combined office-laboratory in a one-car garage into the world's biggest manufacturer of electronic measuring devices. Last year, true to a growth pattern the company has maintained for almost a decade, Hewlett-Packard's sales rose...

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