Origin Stories of 3 of the World’s Largest Companies: AT&T Inc. (T), Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ADR)(BUD), Hewlett -Packard Company (HPQ)

So that’s what the H-S-B-C stands for
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company opened the doors of its first branch on March 3, 1865, in Hong Kong. Founded by Scotsman Thomas Sutherland shortly after the Opium War, the bank quickly became a prominent British-led bank in the Far East, opening a Shanghai branch a month later and a branch in Japan a year after that. For more than a century, Hongkong and Shanghai grew throughout Asia, which was only briefly interrupted by the Japanese during World War II. The bank developed a truly global presence in the postwar period by opening or acquiring branches in the United States, the Middle East, India, Canada, Australia, and Britain.

In 1991, these divergent banks reorganized under the umbrella of holding company HSBC Holdings plc (ADR)(NYSE:HBC) , which is now headquartered in London. This banking titan was the world’s second-largest bank in 2012, its $2.55 trillion in assets trailing only the holdings of Germany’s Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB).

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) was an early adopter once
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) became only the ninth dot-com domain name holder in history on March 3, 1986, when it registered hp.com. The only older domain names still used for their original purpose are Xerox Corporation(NYSE:XRX)‘s xerox.com and SRI International’s sri.com, both of which were registered less than two months earlier. HP’s domain name was then the first two-letter domain name ever registered, at a time when commercial Internet service providers did not yet exist. Fewer than 10,000 networks were accessible at the time, whereas millions upon millions of networks now operate around the world. HP’s domain registration was a rare example of forward thinking at minimal cost. Unfortunately, most business decisions are a great deal more difficult.

The article Origin Stories of 3 of the World’s Largest Companies originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter, @TMFBiggles, for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool owns shares of IBM.

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