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Xerox history
Xerox company history timeline
The history of Xerox begins in 1906 with a small photography paper business in Rochester, New York.
Carlson was born in Seattle, Washington in 1906 and was a patent lawyer employed by a New York electronics firm.
Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, New York, as The Haloid Photographic Company.
In 1912 control of the company was sold to Rochester businessman Gilbert E. Mosher for $50,000.
After a few trying years, Haloid released the new and improved paper in 1933 to great success.
In 1934, at the peak of success, the son of one of Haloid's founders, Joseph R. Wilson, decided that the company should acquire the Rectigraph Company.
1935: Haloid buys Rectigraph Company, a maker of photocopying machines.
The company's first public offering of Xerox stock was on September 16, 1936.
Haloids went public in 1936 to pay for the purchase, and quickly began selling rectigraphs as an important component of its overall business.
Chester Carlson created the first xerographic image in his lab in Queens, New York City, on October 22, 1938.
The roots of Xerox Corporation and its history of innovation started growing back in 1938.
In 1944 Battelle signed a royalty-sharing agreement with Carlson and began to develop commercial applications for xerography.
He saw the promise of Carlson’s invention and, in 1946, signed an agreement to develop it as a commercial product.
Wilson kept the company, with Mosher still aboard, and the company entered into an agreement with Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit research organization in Columbus, Ohio, in 1947.
In 1949, two years after Haloid signed its agreement with Battelle, Haloid introduced the XeroX Copier, spelled with a capital “X”. The machine required much of the processing to be done manually.
Haloid was smart enough to invest its earnings into research and development for a second generation of xerographic copying machine, and in 1950, Battelle made Haloid the sole licensing agency for all patents based off the xerographic process.
In 1953 Carlson received the Edward Longstreth Medal of Merit for the invention of xerography from the Franklin Institute.
By 1955, sales at Haloid were better than ever, and many of the naysayers during Xerox's early history were proven wrong.
The 1385 was followed by the first automatic xerographic printer, the Copyflo, in 1955.
In 1956, Haloid formed a joint venture in the UK with Rank Organisation whose Rank Precision Industries Ltd. subsidiary was charged with anglicising the US products.
By 1958, Haloid realized that its future was in the xerographic copier business, and the company changed its name to Haloid Xerox, Incorporated.
Not until 1959, twenty-one years after Carlson invented xerography, was the first convenient plain-paper office copier unveiled.
In 1960, it released one of the better known copiers in Xerox's history, the Xerox 914 copier.
In 1960, a xerography research facility called the Wilson Center for Research and Technology was opened in Webster, New York.
That balance quickly changed with the success of the Xerox 914 copier, introduced in 1960.
The company changed its name to Xerox Corporation in 1961.
In 1962 Xerox formed Xerox in Japan with Photo Film Company.
By 1963, Xerox Corporation had dropped the "Haloid" and had grown to a $22.5 million company, up from $2 million just four years earlier.
The LDX system was introduced in 1964.
Revenues leaped to over $500 million by 1965.
Xerox’s first foray into duplicating, as distinct from copying, was with the Xerox 2400, introduced in 1966. “2400” denoted the number of prints produced in an hour.
C. Peter McColough, a longtime executive of Haloid and Xerox took over as CEO from Joseph Wilson in 1968.
The company became one of 100 largest corporations in the United States, and, in 1969, it moved to its current headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
The year 1969 began a decades-long string of company acquisitions by Xerox.
In 1969, Xerox bought Scientific Data Systems (SDS), a nine-year-old computer manufacturing company.
In 1970, IBM introduced its own office copier, finally giving Xerox some competition.
After the success of its first copier, Xerox expanded into other information products and publishing businesses and founded PARC, a research lab in Palo Alto, California, in 1970.
In 1973 scientists at PARC invented what may have been the world's first personal computer.
By 1973 pioneering PARC researchers had changed the course of the computer industry and developed the world's first personal computer, known as the Alto.
Enter the great family XEROX ( XICA ) in 1973 formed by the best teachers of XMEX some QDDG, start with the model Xerox 813, 914, 720 and thereafter until today with the family Versalink, Altalink and until Jehovah so said.
From these inventions, Xerox PARC created the Xerox Alto in 1973, a small minicomputer similar to a modern workstation or personal computer.
XDS was sold to Honeywell in 1975.
Following these years of record profits, in 1975 Xerox resolved an anti-trust suit with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which at the time was under the direction of Frederic M. Scherer.
Xerox management was afraid the product version of Starkweather's invention, which became the 9700, would negatively impact their copier business so the innovation sat in limbo until IBM launched the 3800 laser printer in 1976.
In 1977, the computer industry's first laser printer, the Xerox 9700, was announced.
The design was not offered commercially until 1977, and the high price of the Xerox Star 8010 computer inhibited sales.
In 1977, following IBM's laser printer introduction, the Xerox 9700 was introduced.
The dispute was settled in 1978 when IBM paid Xerox $25 million.
In 1979, Steve Jobs made a deal with Xerox's venture capital division: He would let them invest $1 million in exchange for a look at the technology they were working on.
In 1980, Xerox announced the forward looking 5700 laser printing system, a much smaller version of their 9700, but with revolutionary touch screen capabilities and multiple media input (word processing disks, IBM magcards, etc.) and printer ‘finishing’ options.
According to Rank Xerox International Review 1980, the company had manufacturing sites at Mitcheldean (UK), Welwyn Garden City (UK), Lille (France), Venray (The Netherlands) and Coslada (Spain).
In 1980, Xerox announced the 5700 laser printing system, a much smaller version of their 9700, but with revolutionary touch screen capabilities and multiple media input (word processing disks, IBM magcards, etc.) and printer 'finishing' options.
Jobs is quoted as saying, "They just had no idea what they had." In 1980, Jobs invited several key PARC researchers to join his company so that they could fully develop and implement their ideas.
Attempting to expand beyond copiers, in 1981 Xerox introduced a line of electronic memory typewriters, the Memorywriter, which gained 20% market share, mostly at the expense of IBM.
In 1981 Xerox finally began releasing new products, beginning with the Memory writer typewriter.
Laser printers allowed users of the Alto—and users of its successor, the Star, launched commercially in 1981—to simplify putting an exact copy of what they saw on their computer screens onto paper.
In 1981, Xerox released a system similar to the Alto, the Xerox Star.
The 10-series copiers were introduced as a result in 1982.
In 1982 a former Xerox-PARC employee created Adobe Systems, Inc., in Palo Alto, California, and completed sophisticated software, nurtured at Xerox-PARC, for a dedicated desktop publishing workstation based upon the PostScript printer control language.
The Alto predated the origonal IBM-PC by eight years and it was not until 1983 that Steven Wozniak and Steve Jobs at Apple Computer Company in Palo Alto, California, introduced the Lisa.
The first laser printer success was the Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet, released in 1984.
Apple Computer offered the first low-cost PostScript lasar printer in 1985.
In 1985, Xerox sold all of its publishing subsidiaries including University Microfilms and R. R. Bowker.
By 1988 XFS supplied nearly 50 percent of Xerox's income--$315 million of the $632 million total.
In December of 1989 Xerox sued Apple Computer for $150 million, alleging that Apple had stolen the technology that helped make its computers so successful.
Xerox’s comeback was so impressive that in 1989 its Business Products & Systems unit won Congress’s Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for regaining its lead in copier quality.
After earnings of $235 million in the fourth quarter of 1990, Xerox reported only $91 million in profits for the same period the following year.
Earlier in 1990, just four months after the creation of the X-Soft division, which was to develop and market the company’s software products, Xerox announced that it would lay off 10% of X-Soft’s employees.
When Paul Allaire became CEO in 1990, Xerox shifted its focus to document processing.
In 1990, Xerox released the DocuTech Production Publisher Model 135, ushering in print-on-demand.
By the end of 1991, Xerox was announcing the sale of three of its insurance wholesalers.
In February 1992 Xerox was ordered to pay Gradco Systems, Inc. $2.5 million to settle a patent dispute, and a suit settled in favor of Monsanto a month later was expected to cost Xerox $142 million to clean up a hazardous waste dump site.
In May 1992, Xerox introduced Paperworks, software that makes it possible to send documents to a fax machine directly from a PC.
In 1992, the company developed Paperworks, software that allowed faxes to be sent from a PC directly to a fax machine.
With its core office products businesses on the upswing, Xerox announced in January 1993 that it intended to exit from insurance and its other financial services businesses.
Since 1993, more than 500 Xerox products have achieved ENERGY STAR registration.
In 1994 Xerox began calling itself The Document Company to emphasize the wide range of document processing products it produced.
1994: Xerox begins touting itself as The Document Company and increases emphasis on digital products.
To reinforce this image, the company introduced a corporate signature in 1994, "The Document Company", above its main logo and introduced a red digital X. The digital X symbolized the transition of documents between the paper and digital worlds.
"xerox reports 27 percent jump in profit; job cuts ahead goal." san diego daily transcript, 25 october 1995. available at http://www.sddt.com.
During 1995 two of the groups were sold for a total of $524 million in cash.
By 1995, new products like color laser printers and various software products, including DocuWeb and InterDoc, were introduced.
Xerox witnessed a decline in its stock price in late 1995 as problems with its sales people became known.
1995: Company increases its stake in Rank Xerox to 80 percent.
Launched in 1996, one of the most profitable debuts in Xerox's history was the DocuColor 40.
Even in 1996, the corporation's stock fell as investors became aware of the cost involved in the company's recruiting and training efforts.
In 1996, the Xerox Foundation donated a total of $15 million to such programs.
——. "xerox's quarterly profit rose; chairman is optimistic for year." wall street journal, 23 april 1997. available at http://interactive5.wsj.com.
deutsch, claudia h. "this time, xerox may back up promises to investors." new york times, 15 april 1997. available at http://serarch.nytimes.com.
"xerox cuts prices on printers up to 21 percent; launches national advertising campaign." yahoo! finance, 19 may 1997. available at http://biz.yahoo.com.
Krol, Carol. "Canon Devotes $9 Million to Biz Equipment Ads." Advertising Age, July 21, 1997.
In November 1997 the company began packaging its printers and computers in boldly colored boxes that would be more "exciting or enticing," as an HP spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.
Xerox also gained the leading market share position in the burgeoning document outsourcing services sector through the 1997-created Document Services Group.
According to Dataquest, Xerox had a 48-percent market share in sales of personal copiers (models that turn out up to 16 copies per minute) in 1997.
The company's goal was to see double-digit earnings growth in 1997 and in years to come.
on the internet at: http://www.xerox.com/annualreport/1997/or write: the first national bank of boston, po box 8038, boston, ma 02266-8038
1997: Xerox buys out its European partner in Rank Xerox, which is subsequently renamed Xerox Limited.
On March 11, 1998, Xerox announced an agreement to sell Crum and Forster and to leave the insurance field.
1 in personal copier sales." business wire, 26 march 1998. available at http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/980326/xerox_1.html.
Xerox announced a restructuring in April 1998.
hanley, john. "xerox sues hp for patent violation." reuters, 15 may 1998. available at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/technology/story.html?s=z/reuters/980515/tech/stories/xerox_3.html.
"xerox re-invests in south africa." xerox home page, 23 may 1998. available at http://www.xerox.com.
A consolidation of customer administration centers launched in 1998 led to chaos, including delayed and lost orders, unreturned phone calls, and billing errors.
The company planned to eliminate 9,000 jobs over two years, taking a $1.11 billion after-tax charge in 1998’s second quarter in the process.
Xerox's strong financial condition continued in the first quarter of 1998.
First-quarter earnings in 1998 were up 12 percent from the previous year.
During 1999 Xerox reorganized its worldwide sales force, shifting about half of the 30,000-person operation from a geographic focus to an industry focus.
Net income of $360 million was the firm's highest profit level since 1999.
As the firm's financial performance deteriorated, Thoman was forced to resign as CEO in May 2000.
In 2000, Xerox acquired Tektronix color printing and imaging division in Wilsonville, Oregon, for US$925 million.
Other elements of this strategy have included Xerox's expansion plans for its small and networked offices, hoping to increase retail and indirect channel sales to $4 billion (up from $1 billion) by the year 2000.
The first "outsider" to head Xerox, Thoman resigned in 2000.
Most of the company’s 21st-century innovations occurred under the leadership of Anne Mulcahy, who in 2001 became the first female chief executive of Xerox and, the following year, its first female chairperson.
During 2001 a separate restructuring, which aimed to sharpen the company's focus, saw Xerox eliminate product lines aimed at the small office/home office business segment.
2001: Xerox sells half of its stake in Fuji Xerox to Fuji Photo Film for more than $1.3 billion; manufacturing outsourcing relationship with Flextronics International Ltd. begins.
Created in 2001, the FTSE4Good Index is a series of benchmarks for socially responsible investors who want to measure performance using globally recognized standards.
Xerox eliminated its stock dividend that year in order to conserve cash, and in August, Mulcahy was named CEO. She replaced Allaire as chairman in early 2002.
2002: Company agrees to pay $10 million civil penalty to settle the charges of accounting fraud.
She launched an aggressive turnaround plan that returned Xerox to full-year profitability by the end of 2002, along with decreasing debt, increasing cash, and continuing to invest in research and development.
In June 2003 the agency reached an agreement with six executives (five former and one current, including Allaire, Thoman, and former CFO Barry Romeril), who agreed to pay $22 million in fines and other penalties.
In September 2004, Xerox celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Xerox 914.
Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Xerox was Number 132 among the Fortune 500 as of December 2004, with 58,100 employees worldwide, including 32,100 in the United States.
Debt was reduced further during 2004 to less than $10 billion, and the now cash-rich company was poised to begin pursuing acquisitions again.
In November 2006, Xerox completed the acquisition of XMPie.
Xerox filed a patent in 2006 for photosensitive “erasable paper,” which produced prints with images lasting only a day, thus allowing for the continuous reuse of paper.
The company acquired the technology sales and services company Global Imaging Systems (GIS) in 2007.
In 2007 the headquarters was moved to Stamford, Connecticut, but most of the office staff remained in Rochester.
In October 2008, Xerox Canada Ltd. was named one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.
In October 2008, Xerox Canada Ltd. was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.
Lawyers Of Color LLC (LOC) is the parent company of “On Being A Black Lawyer”, “On Being A Hispanic Lawyer” and “On Being A Lawyer of Color”. Established in 2008 to report news on import to black legal professionals, LOC is now a media and research company focusing on lawyers of color.
On July 1, 2009, Burns became the first African American woman to head a company the size of Xerox.
On July 1, 2009, Ursula Burns succeeded Anne Mulcahy as CEO of Xerox.
On September 28, 2009, Xerox announced the intended acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services, a services and outsourcing company, for $6.4 Billion.
Since 2009, only 22 companies have made the ranking each year including Xerox.
To this end, she oversaw Xerox’s 2010 acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), which was involved in outsourcing business services.
Xerox also received Finning Chile"s Supplier Award 2010 for developing products with a focus on environmental protection, decontamination and energy conservation
During the first half of 2010, a number of organizations that monitor corporate citizenship recognized Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) for its ongoing efforts in the areas of sustainability, diversity, governance and ethics as well as efforts to provide employees a great place to work.
Xerox ranked 25th in Newsweek's 2010 Green Rankings of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in America.
In May 2011, Xerox acquired NewField IT for an undisclosed sum.
3 position in the "Computers" category up from 2011 ranking of No.
Xerox is the winner of the 2011 CRN Tech Innovator Award for Managed Services with its eConcierge printer monitoring and supplies replenishment service.
Xerox achieved a 100% rating on the "2011 Corporate Equality Index and Best Places to Work Survey" administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Xerox won the Green IT Awards' "Public Sector Project of the Year" for 2011.
Merge was first deployed in downtown Los Angeles in June 2012.
Xerox has earned the number 32 spot in Interbrand's 2012 Best Global Green Brands ranking.
Xerox was selected as a 2012 Top Supporter of Historically Black Colleges and Universities by the deans of the accredited engineering programs and the corporate-academic alliance members of the Advancing Minorities Interest in Engineering organization.
In December 2013, Xerox sold their Wilsonville, Oregon solid ink product design, engineering and chemistry group and related assets previously acquired from Tektronix to 3D Systems for $32.5 million in cash.
Xerox ranks an impressive #46 this year, up 18 slots from #64 in 2013.
The recognition was established by the Alliance in 2013 to acknowledge member companies who reach the highest level of active participation in the Smart Card Alliance.
The program began in 2014).
The listing is a annual recap of the best health tech infographics created in 2014.
For the 2014 rankings, a record 304 of the nation's largest companies received perfect scores of 100, according to the foundation.
The New York Times calls the ACE Awards “one of the industry's best creative awards.” 2015 winners in each of these categories were IBM (website) and GE (TV).
To make FlexJob's list, the companies seeking out telecommuters had to post at least 100 job openings for them in 2015.
The Reputation Institute, a global consulting firm, surveyed more than 61,000 people in 15 countries in first-quarter 2015.
In January 2016, Xerox—reportedly under pressure from activist shareholder and corporate raider Carl Icahn—announced that by the end of the year it would spin off its business services unit, largely made up of Affiliated Computer Services, into its own publicly traded company.
In June 2016, the company announced that Jeff Jacobson will become the new CEO following the completion of the company's planned separation.
In 2017 it spun off ACS and other service holdings to form the independent company Conduent.
Companies are ranked by their 2017 B2B e-commerce Web sales only.
On January 31, 2018, Xerox announced that Fujifilm had agreed to acquire a 50.1% controlling stake in the company for US$6.1 billion, which was to be combined into their existing joint venture Fuji Xerox (having a value of $18 billion post-acquisition).
On May 1, 2018, it was announced that Chairman Robert Keegan and CEO Jeff Jacobson and four other directors would resign as part of a deal with investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who had mounted a proxy fight to oppose the Fujifilm deal.
83 on the first annual 2018 list.
The ranking highlights the top 100 most reputable companies based on a survey by Reputation Institute of more than 230,000 people in 15 countries from January to February 2019.
In November 2019, Xerox began to pursue a hostile takeover of PC and printer manufacturer HP Inc., declaring its intent to "engage directly" with shareholders after HP rejected two unsolicited bids for the company.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report is the premier national benchmarking tool that assess LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies and practices.
In February 2020, Xerox announced the hiring of Tali Rosman as VP of Xerox's 3D business.
In September 2021, Xerox announced it was transferring its stock ticker from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq after 60 years.
The 2021 Channel Chiefs are prominent leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies, programs and partnerships.
In the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report.
"Xerox Corporation ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/xerox-corporation-2
JOHN DAINTITH "Xerox Corporation ." A Dictionary of Computing. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/xerox-corporation
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | $350.0B | 139,995 | 4,192 | |
| Adobe | 1982 | $21.5B | 11,847 | 1,063 |
| NCR | 1884 | $2.8B | 36,000 | 59 |
| Texas Instruments | 1930 | $15.6B | 29,888 | 188 |
| IBM | 1911 | $62.8B | 270,000 | 3,790 |
| Librato, Inc. | - | $13.0B | 63,800 | - |
| Kodak | 1892 | $1.2B | 4,500 | 40 |
| Akritiv | 2009 | - | 10,002 | - |
| Juniper Networks | 1996 | $5.1B | 9,400 | - |
| Dell | 1984 | $95.6B | 165,000 | 111 |
Xerox history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Xerox, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Xerox. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Xerox. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Xerox. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Xerox and its employees or that of Zippia.
Xerox may also be known as or be related to Haloid Photographic Company, Xerox, Xerox Business Services LLC, Xerox Corporation, Xerox Holdings Corporation and xerox/acs.