Emulex

1979–1999

Emulex was founded in 1978[5] by Fred B. Cox "as a supplier of data storage products and data communications equipment for the computer industry."[6] By 1983, Emulex was able to advertise its products as if it were grocery items: a 2-page spread headlined "One stop shopping for VAX users? Emulex, of course" showed 3 paper bags, each with the Emulex name and logo and each holding a large computer board. One bag also said, "Disk Controllers" while the second bag said, "Communication Controllers;" the third said "Tape Controllers".[7]

Much of Emulex's early market was for Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX and PDP-11 systems.[8] One of the company's most successful early products was the Performance series of low-cost, low-profile terminal servers. The inaugural Performance 4000 (P4000), released in August 1988, was the first third-party terminal server compatible with DEC's Local Area Transport protocol.[9][10] As one of the industry's first compact design terminal servers, it was instantly profitable for Emulex,[11] selling well to shops that were looking for low-cost access methods to a fast-growing base of DEC VAX server products. The P4000 was fixed in port count (16) and housed in a plastic shell with an LCD status screen.[9]

In 1992, Emulex spun off their disk controller business into QLogic.[12]

2000 to present

Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, Emulex employed more than 1,200 people in 2013. In 2000, Emulex acquired Giganet for $645 million,[13] and in 2013, it acquired Endace, based in New Zealand. On April 21, 2009, Broadcom made a proposal to the Emulex board of directors to buy all existing shares of Emulex for $764 million, or $9.25 per share, a 40% premium over the stock's closing price on April 20, 2009.[14][15] After Emulex's board of directors recommended against the sale, Broadcom increased its offer to $11 per share on June 30, which valued the company at $925 million.[16] On July 9, 2009, it too was rejected[17] Broadcom subsequently withdrew its offer.[18]

In February 2015, Avago Technologies Limited announced it would acquire Emulex for $8 per share, in cash.[19] Avago, a spinoff of Hewlett Packard, merged with Broadcom in May of that year.[20][21] Avago assumed the Broadcom name.[19][22]