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Stock issues for former Compaq employees
This page gives additional details for only one of the many HP/HPE-related stocks. Start here: Stock Step-by-Step (Not officially endorsed or supported.)
Received a "Potential Private Retirement Benefit" letter from U.S. Social Security? How to decode the letter and who to contact, if necessary: "Potential Benefit" letter
See all our information for Compaq alumni -- whether or not you ever worked for HP: https://www.hpalumni.org/compaq
HP merger with Compaq. Before the deal was announced, Compaq stock was down to $12 -- from $33 in 1999. Compaq management and board negotiated a merger at 18% over market price. (90% of Compaq shares were voted in favor; 51% of HP shares were voted in favor.)
Deal closed on May 3, 2002. HWP stock symbol was changed to HPQ. Compaq shareholders received 0.6325 share of HPQ in exchange for each CPQ share. CPQ stock was retired. (Compaq had bought Tandem on Sep 2, 1997 and bought DEC on Jun 12, 1998.)
HP Inc. is the legal successor to Hewlett-Packard and to companies acquired by Hewlett-Packard before Nov 1, 2015 – such as Compaq, DEC, EDS, Tandem, etc.
Instructions that CPQ shareholders received at the
time of the acquisition of Compaq by HP -- including what to
do with physical Compaq stock certificates:
https://www.hpalumni.org/StockCompaq-Letter
"Will I be provided with any information relative to the
cost basis of my Compaq common stock that is being
exchanged? No. It is important that you retain any
information that you currently have relative to the cost
basis of your Compaq common stock."
To check for lost stock and uncashed checks: https://www.hpalumni.org/Unclaimed. Compaq was incorporated in Delaware
How one broker handled stock history for: Compaq DEC Tandem
HP's official financial Q and A about several acquisitions:
HP once had a page on their financial website entitled "Q and A," which linked to FAQs giving details for stockholders of companies that HP had acquired. The FAQs are no longer on the HP financial website -- and the FAQs about acquisitions that became part of HPE on Nov 1, 2015 are not on the HPE financial website.
The most recent copy of the HP financial "Q and A" page in the independent non-profit Internet Archive was collected on Jan 9, 2017 -- and it has links to a copy of each FAQ: https://web.archive.org/web/20190109232600/http://h30261.www3.hp.com/faq.aspx
The stock in these predecessor companies is no longer traded. The shareholders -- including former employees who had stock or options -- were paid off in cash or stock of the acquiring company at the time of the acquisition.
Compaq employee stock purchase plan:
Official HPInc public page on employee stock, including Compaq ESPP: Employee Stock and Options
Advice from HPAA members who were on the Compaq employee stock purchase plan:
- If you bought CPQ shares under the Compaq employee stock purchase plan, those shares were automatically converted to HPQ shares at the time of the merger. Unless you have sold or transferred them, the shares (and your corresponding new Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares) are being held by the last administrator of the plan, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney -- which is no longer being paid by the company for this work. Postal address: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, 411 Borel Avenue Suite 220, San Mateo, CA 94089.
- To transfer your Compaq ESPP HPQ shares (and your corresponding new HPE shares) from Morgan Stanley to another financial institution at no charge, you can either: Go to https://www.stockplanconnect.com and download the stock transfer forms for faxing to Morgan Stanley -- or send an email to hpoptions@mssb.com -- you will immediately receive a "deleted without reading" autoreply and, later, a personal reply with instructions and forms.
- Morgan Stanley customers are getting different results from different divisions of the company -- depending on whether they were participants in the Compaq Employee Stock Purchase Plan or had transferred their HP stock to a personal account at Morgan Stanley's local-office-based retail brokerage division. Morgan Stanley issues reported by members
Selling HPQ shares online is still possible at https://www.stockplanconnect.com . However, selling HPE shares can only be done by calling 1-800-367-4777 or 1-801-617-7414.
Compaq Stock Splits
Record date and event:
December 31, 1997 2 for 1 split
July 14, 1997 5 for 2 split
May 31, 1994 3 for 1 split
December 1983 IPO
--from 2015 copy of HP website on
independent non-profit Internet Archive
Tax basis. Plan administrators, transfer agents, and brokerages vary significantly in how (or if) they track lot-by-lot original cost and acquisition date, gain/loss, cash payouts, and current cost basis for the many complex HP-related stock events – and what (if anything) they report to the IRS. Some let you correct your cost basis information, reducing the tax when you sell. Preserve the documents and spreadsheets you used to figure your taxes. Admin and Broker Issues
Your broker may have used a different formula than the one suggested in the tax basis letter provided by the company -- resulting in a somewhat different value. Check your brokerage account online -- or by examining a recent account statement -- to view your holdings in each stock going forward. HP/HPE tax basis letter
(Updated Apr 11, 2025) Question? Email: info@hpalumni.org
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