History
The company was initially headquartered in San Carlos, California, and started with only $22,000 in funding. It had problems raising additional capital, particularly due to Russell's insistence that the company be owned by its employees and his related refusal to accept outside investors. Hansen mortgaged his home for $17,000 to raise additional cash, and the group sought additional funds from friends. Ultimately the company raised $120,000 of capital via an offer of stock to all employees, directors, consultants, and a few sympathetic local investors who shared the company's goals. Military contracts for technology deemed necessary during the Cold War, including some classified projects helped the firm succeed. In 1953, Varian Associates moved its headquarters to Palo Alto, California,[9] at Stanford Industrial Park – noted as the "spawning ground of Silicon Valley" – and was the first firm to occupy a site there.[3]
In 1963 Varian hired Richard R. Ernst, who just graduated with a PhD in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy from ETH Zurich. In the next 5 years at Varian, Ernst invented Fourier-transform NMR spectrometer and developed World's first commercial FT-NMR spectrometer, which was produced by Varian.[10] in 1991 Ernst was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work, that started at Varian.
In 1967, Varian entered the computer business by acquiring Decision Control Inc. (DCI) and renamed it Varian Data Machines. Their computers competed mainly with machines like those from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). 10 years later, Varian Data Machines was sold to Sperry Corporation.
On April 2, 1999, the company spun off its Gloucester, Massachusetts ion-implantation equipment business into Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates and its Palo Alto-based scientific instrument business into Varian, Inc. The medical equipment business, which included manufacturing x-ray tubes in Salt Lake City, Utah, renamed itself Varian Medical Systems, Inc. and remained headquartered in Palo Alto. After the breakup, O'Rourke served as Varian Semiconductor's chairman. Varian, Inc., was later acquired by Agilent Technologies in May, 2010.[11]
On Jan 30th 2017, Varian Medical Systems, Inc.(NYSE:VAR) spun off its X-Ray & Imaging Components business, primarily located in Salt Lake City, Utah to form VAREX Imaging Corporation (NASDAQ: VREX), a publicly listed company. The remaining part of medical equipment business, which mainly consists of oncology radiation business and proton therapy business remained with Varian Medical Systems, Inc. Headquarters remains in the Stanford Research Park, Palo Alto, California.[12]
On August 2, 2020, Siemens Healthineers AG announced an agreement with Varian Medical Systems, Inc. to purchase the radiation oncology systems and software maker in an all-cash deal valued at $16.4 billion dollars.[13] The deal completed on April 15, 2021, and was touted as the "biggest acquisition in healthcare" that year.
