Mr. Think Jr.

As the son of Board Chairman Thomas J. Watson of International Business Machines Corp., Tom Watson Jr. is fond of saying that he "takes real pride in being a great man's son." Last week 38-year-old Tom Jr. got a piece of news that both he and his father could be proud of. I.B.M.'s board elected Tom Jr. president of the company, replacing John G. Phillips, who steps up to vice chairman of the board and head of the executive committee.

Tom Jr. practically grew up in the business. Born in Dayton, Ohio, he accompanied his father on business trips by the time he was eight. Even before that, he grew acquainted with his father's trademark THINK, which was plastered all over the house. He has frequently been introduced as "Mr. Think Jr." He studied economics at Brown University, graduated in 1937 and made a name for himself at I.B.M. as a salesman before he joined the Air Force (he ended up a lieutenant colonel). He served a six-month stint in & out of Russia when he helped open the lend-lease ferry route from Alaska to Moscow.

Tom Jr. came back to I.B.M. in 1946 as assistant to the executive vice president, five months later was made a vice president, and in 1949 was named executive vice president ($85.000).

As president of I.B.M., Tom Jr. sits at the head of a far-flung world empire of 485 sales managers, 366 offices and 17 plants. The company's sales and rentals have increased fourfold between 1941 and 1950. Earnings after taxes in 1950 were $33.3 million, or $12.05 Per share. In 1951 they increased an estimated 20% more.

This week the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against I.B.M., alleging that I.B.M. owns more than 90% of all U.S. tabulating machines, owns 95% of those used by the Federal Government, and manufactures about 90% of all tabulating cards sold in the U.S. The trustbusters said that more than 6,000 I.B.M. machines earn an annual rental of about $100 million. In 1951, the Federal Government alone paid $25 million for rental of its machines. The Government wants to force I.B.M. to give the users the option to buy machines or lease them on a nonrestrictive basis.

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