For Compaq
Alumni (May
5, 2024)
Website operated by volunteers. Not officially endorsed or supported. Question? Email:
info@hpalumni.org
HP Inc. is the overall legal successor to companies acquired by Hewlett-Packard before the company was
split into HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Nov 1, 2015. In general, responsibility for original commitments to former U.S. employees of Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc. remain with HP Inc. – regardless of whether their last business unit ended up in HP or HPE. (Canada and UK: HPE. Other countries vary.
Country-by-country details)
Key contact:
The HP Retirement Service Center is the primary administrator for HP Inc U.S. pension and 401(k) accounts,
including any accounts for companies that Hewlett-Packard acquired before Nov 1, 2015 (Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc.)
Operated by Fidelity Investments.
1-800-457-4015 (If no password, keep hitting #.) (Outside US 1-508-787-9902 collect.)
https://nb.Fidelity.com (Members advise that local Fidelity offices are focused on sales.)
Compaq history -- Books, articles, websites, video.
Select the links below that fit your situation...
- Current HP or HPE employee: Information for Current Employees.
- HP or HPE employee in the process of leaving: use the
ASAP
checklist.
Received a "Potential Private Retirement Benefit" letter
from Social Security? How to decode the letter and who to contact, if necessary:
Potential Benefit letter
If you have paper stock certificates. What to do:
Stock Certificates
Compaq 401(k) plan #001:
- Name: "Compaq Computer Corporation 401(k) Investment Plan"
- EIN: 76-0011617 Plan number: 001 ("EIN" = IRS Employer
Identification Number)
- Abbreviated as: 76-0011617-001
- Administrator:
The HP Retirement Service Center is the primary administrator for HP Inc U.S. pension and 401(k) accounts,
including any accounts for companies that Hewlett-Packard acquired before Nov 1, 2015 (Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc.)
Operated by Fidelity Investments.
1-800-457-4015 (If no password, keep hitting #.) (Outside US 1-508-787-9902 collect.)
https://nb.Fidelity.com (Members advise that local Fidelity offices are focused on sales.)
- Previous administrator before Compaq
was sold to HP -- Vanguard.
- Be sure you have a valid beneficiary designation on file
at Fidelity.
- Benefits under 401(k) plans are not insured by the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC.)
- For details of the plan, see the
last SEC report on the Compaq 401(k) Plan
(from 2002, the year that Compaq was sold to HP.)
Compaq 401(k) plan #002:
- Name: "NetWorth Inc 401K Pension Plan" [Compaq
acquired NetWorth Inc of Irving, TX in 1995.]
- EIN: 76-0011617 Plan number: 002 ("EIN" = IRS Employer
Identification Number)
- Abbreviated as: 76-0011617-002
- Administrator: The HP Retirement Service Center is the primary administrator for HP Inc U.S. pension and 401(k) accounts,
including any accounts for companies that Hewlett-Packard acquired before Nov 1, 2015 (Compaq, DEC, EDS, etc.)
Operated by Fidelity Investments.
1-800-457-4015 (If no password, keep hitting #.) (Outside US 1-508-787-9902 collect.)
https://nb.Fidelity.com (Members advise that local Fidelity offices are focused on sales.)
- Previous administrator before Compaq
was sold to HP -- unknown.
- Be sure you have a valid beneficiary designation on file
at Fidelity.
- Benefits under 401(k) plans are not insured by the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC.)
- Cannot find a
Form 5500 report filed since January 1, 2010 on this
plan.
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. Compaq shareholders received 0.6325
share of HPQ in exchange for each CPQ share. CPQ stock was retired.
HWP stock symbol was changed to HPQ.
HP Breakup. On Nov 1, 2015, the legal name of the Hewlett-Packard Company was changed to HP Inc.
and a new, completely separate company – Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (green-rectangle logo; no hyphen) – was spun out.
Portions of HPE were later spun out into DXC and Micro Focus.
Details:
HP Breakup
Which HP-related companies have me classified as a retiree or former employee?
Due to acquisitions and spinoffs, this may not be obvious. Check here:
Which Company
Contacts at HP Inc. -- the successor company:
HP contacts
Make sure that the legal successor to every company you ever worked for has your current postal address.
Even if not classified by the company as a "Retiree" or
if long gone -- in case of pension plan changes, employment
lawsuits, settlements, or other issues. Update address at former
company
Check your LinkedIn profile. Even if not currently looking for a job, you need a strong, credible LinkedIn profile.
Reconnect with people who know you and your work. Be found by hiring managers, recruiters, and recruiting bots. You can promote your specialized expertise. Your profile may have been automatically changed. Member advice:
hpalumni.org/LinkedIn
Stock. Due to the breakup of HP, you may now have shares in HPInc, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Agilent, Keysight, and DXC – held in multiple accounts – and may not have received cash payouts for Micro Focus or Perspecta. Your current cost basis depends on when you acquired stock as companies were spun out.
HPAA members have developed a step-by-step process to find all your HP/HPE-related stock – and estimate cost basis:
Stock
HPAA's Complete Stock Decoder Tables for:
Compaq
DEC
Tandem
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 and other spinoff
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.
Details and
HPAA advice for former CPQ employee shareholders
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
Service at predecessor companies. Of the many
predecessor companies, only HP, DEC, and EDS ever had U.S.
pension plans. Only HP and DEC ever had U.S. retiree
healthcare plans. Over the years, the companies set aside money in
a dedicated trust fund for each plan. The benefits
originally promised assumed continued high profit
levels. Each plan was eventually closed to new participants.
Employees of other acquisitions
did not have those expectations and there were no plans --
with associated trust funds -- to pass on to an acquiring
company.
As employees were added to the retirement plans in effect at
the time of acquisition, they did not get credit
for service at
the predecessor. However, they generally did get service credit for
other benefits, such as vacation/FTO.
DEC Benefits
Employment verification and experience letters for
Hewlett-Packard, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and related
companies.
Employment and Experience Verification
Reconnect, celebrate the good times, and appreciate those who have
passed.
There are many HP-related social groups on
Facebook, including: HP,
DEC, Tandem, and Compaq.
Private, independent online forums operated and moderated by people
from each community. Leading HP-related Facebook groups:
https://www.hpalumni.org/facebook
Contacts for
former HP and HPE employees:
Contacts