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Ted Waitt personifies the word "entrepreneur." The 35-year old native of Sioux City, Iowa, helped lead the creation of one of the world's largest computer companies.
The story of Gateway is tied directly to Ted Waitt. The son of a fourth generation cattleman, Waitt acquired from his father an independent, entrepreneurial spirit at an early age. In 1985, he and Mike Hammond, now Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, started the company in a farmhouse near Sioux City. In the early days, they personally sold, built, shipped, marketed and supported Gateway systems. The experience gave Waitt a front-line view of the business that helped shape his development into a savvy CEO, while keeping him solidly connected to the needs of employees.
The firm realized sales of $100,000 that first year. Since that time, Gateway has grown into a multi-national, Fortune 500 company with more than 16,000 employees and 1997 sales of $6.3 billion. In the U.S. alone, Dataquest ranked Gateway 4th in total shipments of PCs for the second quarter of 1998.
Waitt helped transform the direct sales model in the computer business into a major, shaping force for the entire industry. Under Ted's leadership, Gateway has emerged as a value and price leader in the very competitive PC industry. The company has developed the trust of its clients and leads all other brands in customer loyalty according to the Ziff-Davis 1998 Technology User Profile. Waitt is internationally recognized as one of the leading authorities on trends facing users of technology.
While Ted credits the success of Gateway to the teamwork of the company's employees, he has been honored for his contributions to the industry. Over the years, his honors have included the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from the U.S. Small Business Association, an honorary doctorate of science degree from the University of South Dakota, the Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA) award from the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Henry Ford II Award from the National Alliance of Business (NAB).
Gateway has numerous locations in the U.S. and around the world, including North Sioux City, South Dakota; Irvine and San Diego, California; New York City, New York; Dublin, Ireland; Yokohama, Japan; Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Sydney, Australia.
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