| (1909
- 1971) |
| Inducted: |
1980 |
| Region: |
Northeast |
| Industry: |
Communications
|
|
Joseph C. Wilson sensed the coming of the "information explosion" and believed that xerography was the way to capitalize on it. Xerography, the process of adhering ink to paper with electrical charges had been invented in 1938, but the giant corporations had repeatedly turned down the process as unreliable. Wilson believed in xerography and funneled $15 million into researching and developing it, a huge sum for a company that went into the enterprise in 1947 earning only $1.5 million a year. His company, Haloid, developed a succession of products in order to fund R&D on the plain-paper copier. Years of frustration and failure did not stop Wilson. When the Xerox 914 came to the market in 1960, it showered millions on Wilson. He changed tiny Haloid Co. into the $7 billion Xerox Corporation. |
