Compaq And HP: Ultimately, The Urge To Merge Was Right

In 2001, when Hewlett-Packard's then-CEO Carly Fiorina announced that the technology giant proposed to merge with Compaq Computer Corp., she set off a firestorm of controversy. Michael Dell, CEO of rival Dell Computer, famously called it "The dumbest deal of the decade," and Walter Hewlett, the son of one of the company's founders, mounted an aggressive proxy fight to prevent the corporate marriage from being consummated. Stockholders as well as the media were fiercely divided as to the wisdom of the move. Not any longer. Six years later, after Fiorina's acrimonious 2005 departure - which many attributed largely to the merger - and the promotion of former NCR head Mark Hurd to lead HP, the consensus is that the merger was indeed a good idea.