BUSINESSPERSON

Thomas J. Watson

1874 - 1956

Photo of Thomas J. Watson

Icon of person Thomas J. Watson

Thomas John Watson Sr. (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was an American businessman who was the chairman and CEO of IBM. He oversaw the company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson developed IBM's management style and corporate culture from John Henry Patterson's training at NCR. He turned the company into a highly effective selling organization, based largely on punched card tabulating machines. Watson authorized providing Nazi Germany with data processing solutions and involved IBM in cooperation throughout the 1930s and until the end of World War II, profiting from both the German and American war efforts. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Thomas J. Watson is the 198th most popular businessperson (down from 172nd in 2019), the 2,346th most popular biography from United States (down from 1,896th in 2019) and the 71st most popular American Businessperson.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Thomas J. Watson by language

Loading...

Among BUSINESSPEOPLE

Among businesspeople, Thomas J. Watson ranks 198 out of 847. Before him are Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici, Fusajiro Yamauchi, Hetty Green, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, Ben Bradlee, and Salomon Mayer von Rothschild. After him are Fredrik Idestam, Lee Iacocca, Peter Sauber, Peter Thiel, Ludvig Nobel, and Theodor de Bry.

Most Popular Businesspeople in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1874, Thomas J. Watson ranks 59. Before him are Ellery Harding Clark, Henri Farman, Marguerite Long, Prince Jean, Duke of Guise, Franz Schmidt, and Johannes Schober. After him are Joseph Erlanger, Emilie Louise Flöge, Vyacheslav Menzhinsky, Wu Peifu, Martin Lowry, and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels. Among people deceased in 1956, Thomas J. Watson ranks 56. Before him are Otto Schmidt, Max Emmerich, and Drastamat Kanayan. After him are Pío Baroja, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Michael Ventris, Nikolaj Velimirović, Elpidio Quirino, Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Miklós Nyiszli, Mir Jafar Baghirov, and Alexander Korda.

Others Born in 1874

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1956

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, Thomas J. Watson ranks 2,346 out of 20,380. Before him are Eva Mendes (1974), Hayden White (1928), Don DeLillo (1936), Ashton Kutcher (1978), Ricky Nelson (1940), and Eazy-E (1964). After him are Amy Coney Barrett (1972), Ronald Lauder (1944), Count Basie (1904), Jesse Douglas (1897), Clement Greenberg (1909), and Ken Wilber (1949).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among BUSINESSPEOPLE In United States

Among businesspeople born in United States, Thomas J. Watson ranks 71. Before him are Sheldon Adelson (1933), Walter Chrysler (1875), Lady Bird Johnson (1912), Henry Ford II (1917), Hetty Green (1834), and Ben Bradlee (1921). After him are Lee Iacocca (1924), Roy Raymond (1947), Robert Trump (1948), Ted Turner (1938), Tom Wolf (1948), and Stockton Rush (1962).

American born Businesspeople

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous