Max Palevsky

After raising around $1 million in venture capital, Max Palevsky founded Scientific Data Systems of California in 1961. Palevsky first worked on a computer project at Bendix. He went on to work at Packard-Bell. He convinced the company that they ought to enter the computer business. Trained as a philosopher in college, he understood not only computer logic, but also the need for argumentation. The result was the PB-250, which was a modest success for the company. He left that company to create SDS and within a year they had introduced a computer, the model 910, and the company was profitable.

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Palevsky sold SDS to Xerox for more than 900 million dollars. He dabbled in politics (supporting among others Robert F. Kennedy and George McGovern), Hollywood movies and he joined the board of Rolling Stone. He also became a venture capitalist, helping to fund Intel, among other companies. In 2000, the University of Chicago completed construction on 3 large, colorful dorms that are connected through underground tunnels. The dorms had been funded by Max Palevsky and are named after him, serving primarily as housing for 1st year students.

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