The Mathworks

What started in a small house in Portola Valley, California, has grown into a global powerhouse in mathematical computing software. The story of MathWorks began in the 1970s when Cleve Moler, a computer science professor at the University of New Mexico, created MATLAB as a free tool for academics. It wasn't until Jack Little, an engineering graduate student at Stanford University, discovered the tool that its true potential was realized. Recognizing the need among engineers and scientists for more powerful computation environments beyond Fortran and C, Little and his colleague Steve Bangert rewrote the MATLAB code in C. In 1984, the trio officially founded MathWorks, with Little running the operations from his home and mailing the first diskettes in food storage baggies to early customers.

Their first major milestone came in February 1985, when they sold ten copies of MATLAB to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for $500. A few years later, the company relocated to Massachusetts to formalize its business operations. By 1997, MathWorks had become highly profitable, boasting around 380 employees and $50 million in revenue. The introduction of Simulink further solidified their position as a leader in simulation and Model-Based Design. Today, MathWorks employs over 6,000 people across 34 global locations, with its headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts. Their software is utilized by millions of engineers and scientists worldwide, accelerating the pace of discovery, innovation, and development across industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to robotics and artificial intelligence. From mailing floppy disks in baggies to empowering the world's most advanced technological breakthroughs, MathWorks continues to profoundly improve our standard of living through the power of computing.