Western Digital Corporation
Company History
Western Digital History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1970 in Newport Beach, California, United States
When was Western Digital founded?
Western Digital was founded in 1970 in Newport Beach, California, United States by Alvin B. Phillips, making it 56 years old.
- Founded
- 1970
- Founding place
- Newport Beach, California, United States
- Founders
- Alvin B. Phillips
- Headquarters today
- San Jose, California, United States
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1970–2026)
- Current CEO
- Irving Tan
- Acquisitions
- 5
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1970 | Founded as General Digital |
| 1988 | Bought Tandon's drive business |
| 2007 | Acquired Komag |
| 2012 | Acquired HGST |
| 2013 | sTec and Virident Acquired |
| 2016 | Acquired SanDisk |
| 2017 | Acquired Upthere |
| 2017 | Acquired Tegile Systems |
| 2020 | David Goeckeler becomes CEO |
| 2023 | Separation Plan Announced |
| 2025 | Sandisk separation completed |
| 2026 | Sandisk stake exchanges and FY2026 results |
- Where was Western Digital founded?
- Western Digital was founded in Newport Beach, California, United States in 1970. en.wikipedia.org
- Who founded Western Digital?
- Western Digital was founded by Alvin B. Phillips.
- When did Western Digital start?
- Western Digital was founded in 1970.
- How old is Western Digital?
- Western Digital is 56 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Alvin B. Phillips founded General Digital in Santa Ana, California, in 1970 to make semiconductor test equipment. The company took the name Western Digital in 1971 and moved into calculator chips and later disk controllers for personal computers. In 1988 it bought the hard-drive operations of Tandon Corporation, which took it into drive manufacturing. It acquired media maker Komag in 2007, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in 2012, and SanDisk in 2016. After announcing a plan in October 2023 to split its HDD and flash businesses, it completed the Sandisk separation on February 21, 2025.
Founders
Alvin B. Phillips
Alvin B. Phillips founded General Digital in Santa Ana, California, in 1970 to build test equipment for semiconductor makers. The company was renamed Western Digital in 1971. It later moved into chips and disk controllers before becoming a hard-drive manufacturer in the late 1980s. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Founded as General Digital
Alvin B. Phillips founded the company in Santa Ana, California.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBought Tandon's drive business
Western Digital entered hard-drive manufacturing.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgsTec and Virident Acquired
Western Digital bought the flash-storage companies sTec and Virident in 2013.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDavid Goeckeler becomes CEO
David Goeckeler became CEO of Western Digital in 2020. Left Western Digital at the February 2025 separation to become CEO of Sandisk.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSeparation Plan Announced
Western Digital said in October 2023 that it would split its hard-drive and flash businesses into two companies.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSandisk separation completed
Sandisk became independent on February 21, 2025, and Irving Tan became CEO.
Source: westerndigital.comSandisk stake exchanges and FY2026 results
Western Digital exchanged most of its Sandisk shares for its own debt and stock and reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $12.92 billion.
Source: westerndigital.comMajor Acquisitions
Komag
2007Brought magnetic media production in-house.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST)
2012Added Hitachi's enterprise and high-capacity drive business. The deal was valued at about $4.3 billion in cash and stock when announced in 2011.
SanDisk
2016Added NAND flash and SSDs. The business was later spun off as Sandisk Corporation in February 2025.
Upthere
2017Cloud storage startup acquired for consumer storage software.
Tegile Systems
2017Flash storage array maker acquired for its data-center systems business.
Keep researching Western Digital
Western Digital Company History FAQ
When and where was Western Digital founded?
Western Digital was founded on April 23, 1970, in Newport Beach, California, by former Motorola engineer Alvin B. Phillips as General Digital, renaming to Western Digital in 1971.
What products did Western Digital produce before hard drives?
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Western Digital was a leading semiconductor maker, producing MOS calculator chips, UART communication controllers, and the industry-standard FD1771 floppy disk controller.
When and how did Western Digital enter hard drive manufacturing?
In 1988, Western Digital acquired the hard drive production operations of Tandon Corporation, launching the legendary WD Caviar series of 3.5-inch IDE hard drives in 1990.
What was the significance of the 2012 HGST acquisition?
In March 2012, Western Digital completed its $4.3 billion acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST), bringing enterprise storage leadership, helium-sealed drive patents, and huge manufacturing scale.
Why did Western Digital acquire SanDisk for $16 billion in 2016?
Western Digital acquired SanDisk in May 2016 to gain immediate leadership in NAND flash memory, solid-state drives (SSDs), and the Flash Ventures manufacturing joint venture with Kioxia in Japan.
Why did Western Digital split its HDD and Flash businesses in 2025?
Following activist pressure from Elliott Management to unlock conglomerate shareholder value, Western Digital announced a tax-free corporate separation on October 30, 2023, splitting into independent HDD and Flash companies.
When was the Sandisk Corporation spin-off completed?
On February 21, 2025, the spin-off of Sandisk Corporation (the flash and SSD business) was completed, leaving Western Digital Corporation as a pure-play hard disk drive (HDD) company.
Who became CEO of Western Digital upon the 2025 separation?
Irving Tan, Western Digital's former Executive Vice President of Global Operations and former senior Cisco executive, was appointed CEO of Western Digital, while David Goeckeler became CEO of Sandisk.
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