I have no idea. As I recall, Seagate did OK from the Veritas deal. I suspect it had more to do with the general roller-coaster nature of the disk business and, as some writers have intimated, that Al wasn’t at his best handling a multi-billion dollar business. Growing, yes, managing, not so much.

Anyone who knows more feel free to chime in!

Robin

Thank you for sharing those memories. Al was a giant of our industry, a true original. Alas, I never met him.

Robin

First time I met Al was during very early 80’s … in a small two room hotel suite at Anaheim, proudly showing off a couple of non-working prototypes, mounted with see-through plastic tops. This was in conjunction with a trade show and they did not have a stand.

There was Al & Finis, both in casual attire … only a couple of other visitors, and some ‘help yourself’ beer in the kitchen sink. It was a humble but a very memorable event , the product made obvious sense and one could sense the future. The main issue then was IBM … as a possible competitor. I am proud to have been one of his early customers.

Next time I saw Al was a few years later, at the Golden Nugget reception, in conjunction with Comdex. This also was a party to remember, with Al proudly circulating among a couple hundred of ‘distinguished’ guests…. the history was very much in progress…. and IBM was still working on their products … I think.

Al, thank you for the vision and great products.