Joe Wilson and the Creation of Xerox

"Charley Ellis has written a magnificent portrait, capturing the indomitable spirit of Joe Wilson and his instinctive understanding of the need for and commercial usefulness of a transforming imaging technology. Joe Wilson and his extraordinary team, which I had the good fortune to first meet in 1960, epitomized the wonderful observation of George Bernard Shaw who said, 'Some look at things that are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were and ask why not?' Xerox and xerography are not only a part of our vocabulary, but part of our everyday life. Charley Ellis gives the reader a poignant understanding of just how this happened through the life, adventures, critical business decisions, and dreams of Joseph Wilson and a cadre of remarkable individuals. This book will surely join the library of memorable biographies that capture the building of America into a risk-tolerant, technologically sophisticated, idea-oriented society that thrives by understanding what Charles Darwin really said: 'Survival will be neither to the strongest of the species, nor to the most intelligent, but to those most adaptable to change.'" —Frederick Frank, Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers Inc.

Introduction by Anne M. Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation ix Foreword by Joel Podolny, Dean, Yale School of Management xv 1 Early Years 1 2 Peggy 13 3 The Thirties 19 4 Years of Struggle 29 5 Chet Carlson 39 6 Battelle 51 7 Contact—Just Barely 57 8 Sol Linowitz 67 9 Toward Xerox 79 10 The University 97 11 Worst of Times, Best of Times 111 12 Joe Wilson 131 13 IBM, RCA, and GE 135 14 Gathering Strength in Finance 147 15 Building the Organization 157 16 Going International 177 17 Going It Alone 191 18 5¢ 199 19 The 914 209 20 Go! 225 21 Getting on Message 239 22 Xerox: Zoom-Zoom 259 23 Fuji-Xerox 267 24 Challenges of Success 275 25 Minister Florence 289 26 Life 301 27 Public Service 315 28 Winding Down 325 29 No Longer CEO 337 30 At the Rockefellers’ 353 Afterword 359 Joe Wilson: In His Own Words 371 Acknowledgments 377 Index 381