Computer manufacturer Compaq was acquired for $25 billion dollars in 2002 by which company?

The story behind the answer

Hewlett-Packard acquired Compaq for about $25 billion in 2002, a deal pushed by HP CEO Carly Fiorina and narrowly approved by shareholders after intense debate. The merger created “HP-Compaq,” instantly boosting HP’s scale in PCs, servers, and services to compete with Dell and IBM. Dell publicly criticized the move, arguing it would dilute focus—highlighting how controversial the consolidation was at the time.

Compaq, founded in 1982, had been a PC pioneer, famous for IBM-compatible portables and its ProLiant servers. After the dot-com bust, thin margins made scale essential, and the merger briefly made HP the world’s largest PC vendor. The Compaq brand was gradually phased out. Memory tip: “HP