The story of Richard Egan is not one of all fame and glory. It has its highs and its lows, but it ends very sadly. But is a story of a man who was raised by a man who he would later say was a drunk and a loser to a man who made billions.
He was born in Dorchester, Mass. Though the exact date is not known, it is known that it was in the years of the depression. He lived in an average middle class neighborhood. His father was a butcher in the local grocery store. Not much else is known about his family except that he claimed his father was a drunk.
He got his degree from a high school called Boston Technical. And went on to serve in the Armed Services. When he got out of the services he used his G.I. Bill to attend Northwestern University and got a degree to be an electrical engineer. He went on to work at several fast growing-high tech industries. He then founded EMC Corporation. The business started out selling office equipment to New England’s industries and colleges, and before long gave to other memory and things needed for computer systems. Before to long, they were running right up against some of the biggest industries out there. There were a few things that were very big sellers like the 64kb memory board and the 1mb RAM memory upgrades.
EMC solved many computer owners dilemma for storing data by creating Symmetrix 4200 Integrated Disk Array. It was products like this that put them over the top, better then IBM, or any of the other major companies. The company flourished. In 1999, EMC bought Data General corporations although they were having a hard time keeping their heads above water.
There were two sides two him. He was a fiery rival and was known for his wanting compliance from his employees. But at the same time he had a soft side. Who took a lot of interest in his employees and their families. EMC today, still employs over 40,000 people worldwide.
He was known to raise a lot of money for the Bush – Cheney re-election campaign. He was a great supporter for bush and the republicans.
He was worth over one billion dollars at the time of his death this year. He was 701 on Forbes list of billionaires. He was found shot to death in his home this year. He had committed suicide. He had cancer and some other illnesses. He had all the money a person could want, but it could not save him from this untimely death.
He left behind his wife of 52 years and five children. He also had 15 grandchildren. The Egan Engineering and Science Center at his Alma mater, Northeastern University, is named in his honor. He also left behind his passion for success that set him apart from those less determined.