GW
Notable Iowa Families & Companies

Gateway (Ted Waitt)

The mail-order computer giant with the cow-spotted boxes — started in a farmhouse near Sioux City.

Founded1985
FieldPersonal computers
HomeSioux City, Iowa
TodayGrew into a national PC brand; acquired by Acer in 2007
The story

How it began

Gateway was founded in 1985 by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond in a farmhouse on the Waitt family's cattle ranch near Sioux City, Iowa, selling built-to-order personal computers by mail.

Its Holstein cow-spot boxes — a nod to its Iowa farm roots — became a national trademark as Gateway 2000 grew into one of the country's largest PC makers before later moving its headquarters out of the region.

What they built

What it was

Legacy

Legacy & philanthropy

Gateway's farmhouse-to-Fortune-500 rise is one of Iowa's great business stories, and its cow-spot branding kept the state's agricultural image on tech-store shelves nationwide.

The company put Sioux City on the map of the 1990s personal-computer boom.

The story

Founders & milestones

Where you'll see the name

Named for the family

Gateway computersthe cow-spot box
FAQ

Common questions

Where is Gateway based?

Gateway is based in Sioux City, Iowa. Grew into a national PC brand; acquired by Acer in 2007

When was Gateway founded?

1985.

Who is behind Gateway?

Ted Waitt & Mike Hammond — co-founders (1985), in a farmhouse near Sioux City

Your own family

Curious about your own family's story? We trace it through the public record and write it up as a documented history.

See how it works →
Sources

Where these facts come from

This profile presents only publicly reported facts, drawn from the sources above. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the family or its companies.

More

Other Iowa families & companies