Joe Wilson and the Creation of Xerox

by Charles D. Ellis, Anne M. Mulcahy (Introduction), Joel Podolny (Foreword by)

"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 '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.

Genres: Business, History

440 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Charles “Charley” D. Ellis is an American investment consultant. In 1972, Ellis founded Greenwich Associates, an international strategy consulting firm focused on financial institutions. Ellis is known for his philosophy of passive investing through index funds, as detailed in his book Winning the Loser’s Game.

Reviews

[Ankit Goyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and smooth portrayal of the life of an unblemished ethical and systematic corporate leader who took a small family owned businesses to one of our modern times ' preeminent technological giants . A subtle side story is the true struggle of a lonely inventor of one of the most ubiquitous modern technologies .