Word: opels
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...company of monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. The federal suit dragged on endlessly-at a cost to IBM of several hundred million dollars in legal fees-until the Justice Department abruptly dropped it in January 1982, declaring that the case was "without merit." Recalls former IBM Chairman Frank Cary, Opel's predecessor: "The suit was a tremendous cloud that was over the company for 13 years. It couldn't help influencing us in a whole variety of ways. Ending it lifted a huge burden from management's shoulders." Jeffrey Zuckerman, special assistant to Antitrust Division Chief William Baxter...
...Opel is bullish about the future of IBM, and he is very optimistic about the outlook for the whole industry. He notes that while people have limited demands for commodities like shoes and automobiles, they seem to have an insatiable appetite for information. Says he: "I have yet to hear somebody say they could not use more information. Hence the demand for information processing, though perhaps not infinite, is enormous...
...said Gump, "I always knew Johnny was a good boy." Good as gold, almost. As chief executive officer of IBM, John Opel earned a handsome $1.3 million last year. He also owns $4 million worth of his company's stock...
Compared with the Thomas Watsons, father and son, Opel appears almost bland. "Plain vanilla," says one member of the IBM board, "but good plain vanilla." Says a middle-level executive: "With Tom Watson, you knew stories about him. With Opel, there are no vibes. You just know, in a business sense, exactly what his goals and objectives...
...simple but elegant office at IBM's headquarters in Armonk, N.Y., the only mildly unusual feature is a stand-up desk that Opel uses in addition to a standard one. He receives visitors with a correctness that is so smooth it can be mistaken for real easiness. But Board Member William Coleman, a Secretary of Transportation in the Ford Administration and now a Washington lawyer, says Opel is noted more for his strength than for his charm. Says Coleman: "He's tough. You can tell instantly when you're rubbing him the wrong way or when...