For DEC retirees...
Compaq was the legal successor to DEC. HPInc, in turn, is
the legal successor to Compaq -- and has responsibility for
any commitments. This includes any retiree health coverage,
pension, 401(k), etc. plans. (Does not depend on whether the employee's
last business unit ended up in HPInc or Hewlett
Packard Enterprise in the
HP Breakup.)
A
lump-sum pension buyout offer was made to some who have legacy DEC and EDS
pension plans. Deadline was July 15, 2020;
extended to July 22,
2020. Details:
2020 Pension
Lump-Sum Offer
If you received a "Potential Private Retirement Benefit
Information"
notice from Social Security, it is usually based on outdated
information about a retirement plan or an employee stock fund. Note the "Year Reported" date on
the form included in the body of the notice. Here's how to
decode it:
https://www.hpalumni.org/PotentialBenefitLetter
Key: HPInc is the legal successor to DEC, Tandem, and
Compaq. Responsibility was not transferred to successor companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise or DXC. HPInc has
responsibility for any commitments to former Compaq
employees. (Does not depend on whether the employee's last
business unit ended up in HPInc or Hewlett Packard
Enterprise in the
HP Breakup.)
HP
contacts
Make sure that HPInc has
your current postal address.
Even if not classified by the company as a "Retiree" or
if long gone from the company -- in case of class-action
settlements, pension, or stock issues. Update
address at former company
LinkedIn. How to get your LinkedIn profile to show
the correct company for each position.
LinkedIn Tips & Traps - Positions
Pension and 401(k) accounts. The HPInc Retirement
Service Center manages pension and 401(k) accounts
for HPInc (formerly named Hewlett-Packard Company.)
Also manages any pension or 401(k) accounts that
Hewlett-Packard predecessor companies (such as Digital and
EDS)
may have had. Operated by Fidelity Investments.
1-800-457-4015, M-F 7:30 AM to 11:00 PM Central
Time. Outside the U.S., call 1-508-787-9902 collect. Website:
https://nb.fidelity.com/public/nb/hp/home
If you were employed by DEC prior to March 1, 1996: You may
have a benefit under the HP Cash Account Pension Plan
Plan details in this HP document, which may be out of date:
2008 HP CAP Summary Plan Description
How to decode an
SPD. (For example, many of the postal contact addresses given in
SPDs are extinct.)
Decoding SPDs
Digital Retiree Health Program. HP's official table to
determine if you are qualified for health coverage.
Pre-2003,
Post-2002, and Digital Retiree Health Programs
Annual Benefits Enrollment details and advice from
members:
https://www.hpalumni.org/Annual
HPInc Benefits Center: The "cosmic glue" for
all U.S. HPInc benefits issues.
(Operated for HPInc by Alight Solutions -- formerly Aon
Hewitt. Also manages retiree health coverage for many HPE
retirees and any retiree health plans from predecessors such
as DEC.)
1-800-890-3100 -- 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time,
Monday - Friday
1-847-883-0465 -- Outside the United States, Puerto Rico, or
Canada
Ask for a "Retirement Specialist" -- otherwise, you may get
an agent who is primarily trained on current-employee
issues.
If the first-level Benefits Center phone agent can't resolve
your issue, ask them to escalate your call. Use the magic
word "escalate." We get very good reports from members who
have escalated within the Benefits Center.
Employment verification and experience letters for Hewlett-Packard, HPInc, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, predecessor companies, and successor companies.
How to provide current and past employment status and
salary to potential employers, financial institutions, and
government aid agencies. Employment Verification:
https://www.hpalumni.org/verif.
Experience Letter:
https://www.hpalumni.org/verif-letter
Employee stock.
HPAA stock decoder tables for employee stock in major predecessor
companies:
Compaq
DEC
Tandem
Join the
HPAA Benefits Forum. Discuss U.S. HP/HPInc/HPE COBRA and
retiree health benefits, including Annual Enrollment and
transition to Medicare.
Join the independent
DEC
Connection and perhaps other
DEC alumni social groups.
For those in the workforce, select the links below that fit your
situation...
- Current HPInc or HPE employee:
Networking and Information.
Join
DEC professional networking groups
- HPInc or HPE
employee in the process of leaving or being laid off:
ASAP
checklist.
- Former DEC employee who never worked for HP: Join the
independent
DEC
Connection and perhaps other
DEC alumni social groups. Plus join the
HP Connections
group on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn: How to get your LinkedIn profile to show
the correct company for each position.
LinkedIn Tips & Traps - Positions
Networking
Directory of HP- and DEC-related networks and groups
worldwide
Contacts for
former HP, HPInc, and HPE employees (And DEC retirees.)
HPAA and alumni have developed a
DEC Stock Decoder Table
that covers events
through 04/30/2019.
Compaq acquisition of DEC: For each share of DEC
owned on June 11, 1998, DEC shareholders received $30.00 in
cash and .945 shares of Compaq stock. Source:
SEC 8K filing "Compaq Computer Corp., seeking to
expand into the lucrative enterprise computing business,
agreed Monday to acquire Digital Equipment Corp. in a
blockbuster deal worth $9.6 billion. ... $57.41 a share in
cash and stock, well above Friday's closing price of
$45.44." Source:
CNN Money
Article
Original DEC
Business Plan: The
DEC
Connection has a copy of the 1957 document:
Ken Olson's Business Plan
Urban
Legend:
Did Ken Olsen
say there was "no reason for any individual to have a
computer in his home"'?
"Legend. The out-of-context misinterpretation of Olsen's
comments has been promulgated for decades. What Olsen was
addressing in 1977 was the concept of powerful computers
that controlled every aspect of home life. The fear that
computers might even try to take charge altogether was
widely experienced." --Snopes, the urban legend and
misinformation reference site
snopes.com article
Videos and articles:
- Gordon Bell's "CyberMuseum
for Digital Equipment Corp Documents, Photo Albums, Talks, and
Videotapes"
- Website of Gordon College:
http://www.gordon.edu/kenolsen
Where to sell or donate DEC equipment and memorabilia:
http://www.decconnection.org/DECdonations.htm
Articles:
- "Lessons from Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corp." MIT Sloan
Management Review. "How many current Fortune 500 executives will be
remembered fondly by their former employees?"
MIT Sloan Management Review
- "Ken Olsen: Faith, Work, And Charity Support A Computing Career" Doris
Kilban, Electronic Design
Electronic Design article
- "Computer pioneer Ken Olsen dies" Boston Globe
Boston Globe article
- "Ken Olsen, Who Built DEC Into a Power, Dies at 84" New York Times
New York Times article
- "Ken Olsen Founder Digital Equipment Corp Passes Away" Silicon Angle
Silicon Angle article
Books:
- "DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment
Corporation" Edgar H. Schein et al
Amazon
(Look inside the book at Amazon)
- "Digital at Work: Snapshots of the First Thirty-Five Years" Jamie
Parker Pearson, ed.
Amazon
Amazon
- "The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital
Equipment Corporation" Glenn Rifkin and George Harrar
Amazon
The Hewlett-Packard Alumni Association is operated by former employees
who volunteer their time. Not officially endorsed or supported by any
company.
More about
the HPAA

Ken Olsen, 1988