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Show 7. More seriously, the testimony of the kind of a person Bill Hewlett really is is evident in his relationship of over fifty years with Dave Packard. They went to Stanford together, served in H-P together, own ranches together, work and play together, and are still the best of friends. Back in the 60's I had a date to have lunch with them at The Pacific Union Club. I came to the luncheon directly from a Wells Fargo board meeting that was unique in my experience because at his own request the head of a firm that owed a lot of money to the bank had asked to appear before the bank board and give a real pitch for his company. The individual was "Tex" Thornton, the dynamic head of Litton Industries which was then acquiring a new company about every week. I told Bill and Dave about the incident and Bill expressed the view that, given the difficulty H-P had had with the one or two acquisitions that it had made, he could not believe any company could expand at Litton's rate and still be sound. As could be expected, this prompted Packard to argue the opposite view that maybe it could be done. They went back and forth at each other in rising crescendo until Packard tired of the discussion and tried to end it by saying: "Bill, I'm willing to admit there's someone smarter than I am." Bill still had the last word. Without missing a beat he replied: "Damn it, Dave, I'm willing to admit there's someone smarter than I am. I'm just not willing to admit that there's anyone smarter than you are." It was a great remark from one partner to another, and Bill, I'm going to steal it. In all sincerity, having been your pal in work and at play, I won't admit that there is anybody smarter than you are - or more importantly - any nicer guy! |