Reconnect, celebrate the good times, and appreciate those who have passed. There are many HP-related social groups on Facebook, including: HP and EDS. Private, independent online forums operated and moderated by people from each community. Leading HP-related Facebook groups: https://www.hpalumni.org/facebook

EDS ownership history.

Founder Ross Perot retained 50% of the stock when EDS went public. GM contracts were 31% of revenue when he sold the company to GM in 1984. GM spun out EDS in 1996.

EDS timeline:

- Ross Perot founded EDS in 1962 and took it public in 1968 -- but retained 50% of the stock. He sold EDS to General Motors in 1984. Perot and his family received more than $1 billion in cash and GM stock. As a GM board member, he attempted to reform GM's management and culture. The company bought out Perot's GM shares at twice the market price in 1986. Perot then formed EDS competitor Perot Systems, which he sold to Dell in 2009.

- At the time of the acquisition, GM had "...more than 100 locations in the U.S. where sizable data processing staffs are employed ...a total of more than 2,000 MIPs [sic] computing capacity in the U.S. as compared to EDS' approximately 150 MIPs... We need EDS professionals in all categories to join our team at GM... people who are willing to respond quickly and be on-site at a GM location immediately; perhaps as early as tomorrow or next Monday. You should also be willing to relocate... If you have the desire and drive to be part of the EDS/GM team, please complete the attached form and give it to your manager today." --July 22, 1984 memo to EDS employees.

- GM spun off EDS in 1996.  "GM's complex relationship with IT"  GM contracts were 31% of EDS revenue at that time.

- Dick Brown, former CEO of Cable & Wireless and H&R Block, named EDS chairman and CEO in Dec. 1998. "Within weeks Brown cut 5,200 jobs." Source

- Fortune in Feb 2003: "EDS has a stock that's been flattened." Brown: "I have a very expensive wife." Source

- Michael H. Jordan, former chairman of CBS and PepsiCo, named EDS chairman and CEO in Mar 2003. Source

- The stock dropped from $76 in 2000 (source) to $19 in 2007.

- 2007 Workforce Alignment. From the  2007 EDS Annual Report:  "We increased the number of employees in Best Shore locations from approximately 32,000 persons at the end of 2006 to approximately 41,000 at the end of 2007... Our 2007 initiatives to increase capabilities in Best Shore locations included the transfer of certain internal administrative functions... We expect to significantly increase our overall investment in workforce alignment in 2008 compared to 2007. [Boldface added]  During the third quarter of 2007, we announced an early retirement offer ("ERO") for approximately 12,000 U.S. employees. Approximately 2,400 employees accepted the ERO. Employees accepting the offer will receive enhanced retirement benefits payable through normal payment options under the EDS Retirement Plan."

- 2007: EDS' last full year in business: 1% increase in year-to-year revenue worldwide. "As of January 31, 2008, EDS and its subsidiaries employed approximately 139,500 persons in the United States and 65 other countries around the world." Last (2007) Annual Report  [Discussion of the three major linens of business, competition, and risk factors -- pages 1-8.]

- 2008: In the last EDS quarterly report before the sale was announced in May 2008:
Three months ended March 31, 2008:  Revenues $5,365M; Net income $62M
Same quarter the previous year: Revenues $5,224M; Net income $164M
In short, revenues up by 3%; net income down by 62%
https://sec.report/Document/0001179706-08-000048/

- EDS stock peaked at $72 in 2001 but was down to $19. The EDS board of directors negotiated the sale to HP. HP paid $25 per share in cash, $13.9 billion -- a 32% premium.

- Joint announcement by EDS and HP management on May 13, 2008. 

- Approved on Jul 31, 2008 by EDS shareholders owning 98.8 percent of the stock. Source

- Acquisition completed on Aug 26, 2008. Details and HPAA advice for former EDS employee shareholders 

- "EDS had approximately 140,000 employees as of 12/31/2007. HP had approximately 172,000 total employees as of 10/31/2007, including more than 70,000 services employees." Source

- At completion of the sale on Aug 26, 2008, EDS was temporarily structured as a wholly-owned subsidiary called "EDS, an HP Company." On Sep 23, 2009, it was renamed "HP Enterprise Services."

- 2012: "HP has provided support services to Medicare and Medicaid clients for 44 years, handling 35 percent of all Medicare and Medicaid claims in the United States and processing 2.4 billion healthcare transactions annually, including 1 billion in healthcare claims. HP provides an array of technology services for CMS and Medicare contractors, including data center services, maintenance of the Medicare Part B system and non-base system support." HP press release

- On Oct 21, 2015, Hewlett-Packard Company spun off Hewlett Packard Enterprise (no hyphen; singular.)

- 2016: Fortune article summarizing the HP Breakup.

- HPAA's unofficial list of EDS Acquisitions

- See HP Spinoff Timeline for further history.

EDS culture:

- "Eagles don't flock, you have to find them one at a time." – Ross Perot

- "Grass Roots Wisdoms"

- "What is an EDSer? An EDSer is a person that goes anywhere, anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to make sure that EDS is the finest computer service company in the world and that nobody beats us in competition." --Ross Perot, 1986

- WAAPDSUT. WAA (written by EDS corporate software in Dallas) P (program) DSUT (dataset utility.) Originally written for DOS in the '60s, this utility was the most heavily used dataset printing/dumping/comparing/ repairing etc. tool used by EDS systems engineers. Discussion on IBM Mainframe Forum

- "The GM system is like a blanket of fog. I come from an environment where, if you see a snake, you kill it. At GM, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is go hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes, and then you discuss it for a couple of years. The most likely course of action is -- nothing. You figure the snake hasn't bitten anybody yet, so you just let him crawl around on the factory floor. We need to build an environment where the first guy who sees the snake kills it. " 1988 interview with EDS founder Ross Perot in Fortune -- four years after GM bought EDS. Nine months later, GM bought out Perot's GM shares at twice the market price.