The Resume

(January 14, 1914-December 31, 1993)
Born in Dayton, Ohio
Son of Thomas Watson, first president of IBM
CEO of IBM (1956-71)
US ambassador to the Soviet Union (1979-81)

Why he might be annoying:

He was a poor student and a trouble maker who was admitted to Brown University as a favor to his father.
He was clinically depressed as a teen.
He burst into tears at the prospect of succeeding his father and told his mother, 'I can't work for IBM.'
As an IBM salesman, he made his quota early because management threw him a big account to make the boss's son look good (1940).
He had 'savage, primal and unstoppable' fights with his father over financial issues.

Why he might not be annoying:

He was an undiagnosed dyslexic.
He was a pilot in the Army Air Force during World War II.
He directed IBM's transition from a manufacturer of punch card systems into the nation's leading computer company.
He tripled the company's research and development budgets.
He funded the Thomas J. Watson Library and Watson House at Columbia University.
Fortune magazine hailed him as 'the most successful capitalist in history.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Breeders [Have 5 or More Kids] (Ranked: 6)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 12]
• Celebrity Juniors
• Forbes' 20 Most Influential Businessmen of All Time [2006] (Ranked: 6)
• I Attended Brown
• I Died Before the Ball Dropped [December 31st] (Ranked: 1993)
• I Died in 1993 (Ranked: 79)
• I Had a Stroke [Cerebral Vascular Accident]
• I Have Dyslexia
• I'm Depressed [Reportedly Uni-polar]
• Look at My Computer
• People with Tom, Dick or Harry in their Names
• Pilots
• Profiles 23001-23250 (Ranked: 23148)
• Served in World War II
• Time Magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century [1998]
• U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
• We Celebrated Our Golden Anniversary

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 11 Votes: 27.27% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 49 Votes: 65.31% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 27.27% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 21 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 17 Votes: 41.18% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 23 Votes: 60.87% Annoying