Emulex

In the world of high-performance computing, the story often focuses on the servers themselves. But what about connecting them? In 1978, Fred B. Cox founded Emulex to solve this exact problem, starting with products for Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX and PDP-11 systems. The company specialized in the essential, yet often overlooked, hardware that allowed servers to talk to storage and networks. Emulex became a key player in the data center, providing the input/output connectivity that companies like Cisco, Dell, HP, and IBM relied on. They made their name with Fibre Channel and Ethernet-based products, the building blocks for enterprise storage and networking. This focus on the plumbing of the data center allowed them to grow steadily. A major turning point came in 1992 when Emulex spun off its disk controller business into QLogic, sharpening its focus on network connectivity. The company's journey culminated in a significant acquisition. After fending off a hostile takeover bid from Broadcom in 2009, Emulex eventually agreed to be acquired by Avago Technologies in 2015 for approximately $609 million. Shortly after, Avago merged with Broadcom, bringing the Emulex story full circle and integrating its critical connectivity technology into a semiconductor powerhouse.