He likens their union to that of Bill Hewlett and David Packard, or Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google.

ECONOMIST: Behind the scenes at the start of Microsoft

Founded by Stanford University engineers David Packard and William Hewlett in a Palo Alto, Calif. garage in 1938, for most of its history HP grew at a near exponential rate.

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Management by wandering around was made famous 30 years ago by In Search of Excellence, the book that celebrated the leadership and innovation of entrepreneurs like Bill Hewlett and David Packard.

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But as the years passed, as I dealt with hundreds of entrepreneurs, and with Packard himself, I began to understand that the key to the greatness of Bill Hewlett and David Packard was that they held no attachment to things, only people.

FORBES: Great Garages

Technologists buried nearby include Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard and engineer Lewis Terman, who mentored Packard and HP co-founder Walter Hewlett.

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Just check out what Hewlett Packard senior executive David Donatelli has to say about departed chief executive Mark Hurd.

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David Packard, who, with Bill Hewlett, founded Hewlett-Packard in a Palo Alto garage in 1939, hired Perkins in 1957, at a time when the company was entering a period of rapid expansion, and Perkins was put in charge of the research labs.

NEWYORKER: The Kona Files

The foundation, directed by Sir Patrick Fairweather, a former British ambassador to Albania and to Italy, and financed mainly by grants from David Packard, heir to America's Hewlett-Packard fortune, has been leading the attempt to ensure that Butrint's development is adequately financed and sensitively handled.

ECONOMIST: Mediterranean archaeology

But once Hewlett found an ally in the Packard Foundation, steward of cofounder David Packard's fortune, HP Chief Executive Carleton Fiorina started speaking up.

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