13 Facts About Lewis Platt

1.

Lewis Emmett Platt was an American businessman and corporate director, who was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard.

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2.

Lewis Platt earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1964 and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1966.

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3.

Lewis Platt was granted an honorary doctorate in Engineering Science by Santa Clara University.

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4.

Lewis Platt was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega National Fraternity and served on its National Foundation Board of Governors.

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5.

Lewis Platt's wife died of cancer, and leaving him to raise two young daughters.

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6.

Lewis Platt joined Hewlett-Packard as an engineer in the medical products division.

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7.

Lewis Platt was known as an embodiment of the "HP Way", a management philosophy developed by company founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, that "built on respect for every individual and on the notion that people want to do their best — and will, if given the right direction".

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8.

Lewis Platt was noted to being attuned to the company's rank-and-file as he practiced "management by walking around", as he flew commercial airlines instead of using the corporate jet.

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9.

Lewis Platt ate in the company cafeteria with the employees on a regular basis.

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10.

Late in his tenure, Lewis Platt was often criticized by investors and some HP executives for focusing on progressive values and long-term results.

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11.

Lewis Platt's detractors said that company needed a more cold-blooded competitiveness and higher octane leadership to succeed, that his "pragmatic, nothing-fancy approach" seemed out of touch with the "go-go demands of the late 1990s, " and that he had failed to capitalize on the Internet boom.

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12.

In 1996, Lewis E Platt was elected cochair and a memberof the board of directors of Joint Venture Silicon Valley and theTech Network, formed in 1991, to strengthen the local economy andmake the area a better place to live, and he was a member of The Business Council, serving as a member of the California Business Roundtable from 1993 to 1995.

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13.

In 2005, Lewis Platt was instrumental in forcing out President and CEO Harry Stonecipher for violating company rules, after it was revealed that Stonecipher was having an extramarital relationship with a female executive.

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