Stan Shih, with his wife Caroline Yeh, started Acer in 1976 with only $25,000. By 2009, Acer had become the world’s second-largest PC maker, overtaking Dell by offering low-cost netbooks geared towards budget-conscious consumers during the economic slowdown.

For almost two decades, Acer was manufacturing computers for other companies, while also manufacturing similar computers under its own brand. Shih strived to make Acer a global brand name and turn around the then-poor image of products marked “Made in Taiwan”. In 2000, Shih formed Wistron to handle the OEM side so that Acer could focus on selling its computers. The company also acquired brands like Gateway and Packard Bell.

Shih retired in 2004 and shifted to charity work, but returned as chairman from 2013 to 2014 after a slump in global laptop demand caused a record financial loss. In recent years, Acer has seen a turnaround, with a new approach to ICT and Shih’s son Maverick heading its cloud computing services.