SAN DIEGO, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW) announced
today that its board of directors has elected unanimously company founder and
Chairman Ted Waitt as chief executive officer of the nation's No. 2 consumer
PC company, effective immediately.
Waitt replaces Jeff Weitzen, who has announced his retirement. Weitzen
served as CEO since January 1, 2000.
"I love Gateway, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure
the company can grow and prosper in this challenging environment," Waitt said.
"We've done a lot in the last couple years to solidify our beyond the box
business, and now we're going to move forward by doing what Gateway's always
done best: Delivering better products, at better prices, with better service
than anyone else out there, all while living the Gateway values."
Weitzen, who joined Gateway in January 1998, said: "We have worked very
hard over the past three years to transform Gateway in ways that would ensure
its long-term success. I am proud of the work we've done and of all that
we've achieved, and I am really looking forward to spending more time with my
wife and family. I wish Ted and the entire Gateway family the best."
Conference Call
A special conference call will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001 at 9 AM
EST and will be accessible via live audio webcast at http://www.gateway.com.
About Gateway
Gateway (NYSE: GTW), a Fortune 250 company founded in 1985, focuses on
building lifelong relationships with consumers, small businesses and
government and education institutions by helping our clients meet all their
technology needs. Gateway had total global revenue of $9.7 billion in 2000.
For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.gateway.com
Special Note
The above statements include forward-looking statements based on current
management expectations. Factors that could cause future results to differ
from these expectations include the following: general economic conditions;
growth in the personal computer industry; competitive factors and pricing
pressures; component supply shortages; short product cycles; foreign currency
fluctuations; risks relating to new or acquired businesses and joint ventures;
risks of financing customer orders; infrastructure requirements; risks of
equity investments; changes in product, customer or geographic sales mix;
access to technology; and inventory risks due to shifts in market demand.
Additional factors are described in the Company's reports and other filings
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ted Waitt
Gateway Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
At the age of 38, Ted Waitt is a true pioneer of the information age, and
is responsible for a string of innovations that have transformed not just
Gateway, but the technology industry as well.
The son of a fourth-generation Iowa cattleman, Waitt has parlayed a
genetic predisposition for plain talk and fair dealing into a business model
that is as true today as it was when he founded the company. In 1985, he and
Mike Hammond, a friend, co-founded Gateway with a $10,000 loan guaranteed by
his grandmother. The company's early value proposition was simple, and is
similar to today's: offer products directly to customers by telephone and
build them to their specifications -- and always provide the best value for
money. With a sharp focus on customer satisfaction, the fledgling start-up
grossed $100,000 the first year.
Under Waitt's stewardship, Gateway has grown from a start-up to a
$10 billion company in 15 years. That growth is founded on two simple
observations. Technology should be simple to use and should improve the
user's life; and a company that provides technology should strive for lifelong
relationships with its customers. Gateway, Waitt likes to say, is the
customer's trusted guide -- or an IT department for the masses.
In the mid-1990s, Waitt saw that the traditional PC business was
commoditizing at a rapid rate. He was determined to prevent Gateway from
following that path. Waitt, the first in the PC business to see the PC as a
platform for additional related revenue sources, implemented a series of
innovative initiatives designed to provide Gateway with a richer and more
diverse profit stream, as well as fresh, new ways to strengthen Gateway's
customer relationships.
Under Waitt, Gateway became the first PC maker to:
-- Offer PC upgrades such as Microsoft Windows, choices of software and
CD-ROMs as standard at no extra charge
-- Explore convergence of the PC and television with the visionary
Destination system
-- Sell directly on the Internet
-- Offer financing through the Your:)Ware program, a revolutionary way to
buy and own a PC that protects customers against technology
obsolescence
-- Open and scale a non-inventory retail channel, Gateway Country stores,
becoming one of the nation's first "bricks and clicks" retailers
-- Sell peripherals on-line
-- Bundle its own branded Internet service with the PC
-- Offer its own training direct to customers
Likening the worldwide digital divide between computer haves and have nots
to a "chasm" of Grand Canyon proportions, Waitt has worked tirelessly during
2000 to ramp up a family foundation designed to ensure children have equal
access to technology. The Waitt Family Foundation is a private family fund
focused on serving the needs of families and children in crisis, with a
special interest in bridging the digital divide.
Born Jan. 18, 1963, in Sioux City, Iowa, Waitt attended the University of
Iowa before founding the company. Waitt, his wife and four children reside in
San Diego.
SOURCE Gateway, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.gateway.com
CONTACT:
media, John W. Spelich, Public Relations,
858-799-2657, john.spelich@gateway.com, or investor relations,
Marlys D. Johnson, Investor Relations, 605-232-2709,
marlys.johnson@gateway.com, both of Gateway, Inc.
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