Clue 1 · The Basics
U.S. technology company · mid-to-large cap · listed on Nasdaq · headquartered in California.
Clue 2 · The Numbers
Revenue roughly $13 billion a year, selling hardware that your computer uses to store every file you've ever saved — photos, videos, the works.
Clue 3 · The History
Founded in 1970 in Santa Ana, California, it spent decades making the spinning magnetic disks inside desktop and laptop computers before the world started moving to flash.
Clue 4 · The Secret
It fought hard to stay relevant in the flash storage revolution, spending roughly $19 billion to acquire a NAND flash giant — and then spent years wondering if it was a good idea.
Clue 5 · The Lore
Its products live inside data centers, gaming consoles, and your dusty external hard drive in a drawer somewhere; it's one of only two companies that still make spinning hard disk drives at scale.
Clue 6 · The Giveaway
If you've ever plugged in a My Passport or a My Cloud drive, you've used this company — their initials are also a handy abbreviation for Well Done, Cowboys.