# IBM — Capital Time Machine

IBM’s origins are a 1911 consolidation under the Computing-Tabulating-Recording name. A modern Series A–F framework does not describe this corporate history.

Canonical citation: https://capitaltimemachine.com/private/ibm

Ticker: IBM
Sector: Enterprise technology
Public-market route: Predecessor consolidation and historical listing
Evidence reviewed: 2026-09-24

## How to use this research

Selected historical funding and listing evidence, not a complete private cap table or live quote. Funding totals, company valuations and per-share prices are different measures. A hypothetical value is not actual sale proceeds; investor access is not established.

## Funding and listing history

### formation — C-T-R incorporated

Date: 1911-06-16
Event type: Predecessor consolidation

The enterprise combined earlier time-recording, tabulating and computing-scale businesses. This is corporate formation history, not a priced VC round.

Source: [IBM corporate origins](https://www.ibm.com/history/ctr-and-ibm)
Source location: 1911 consolidation under C-T-R, constituent businesses and later IBM identity.

Source: [IBM investor FAQ](https://www.ibm.com/investor/help/general-faqs)
Source location: June 16, 1911 incorporation as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co.; current stock-listing information.

### acquisition — Tabulating business sale

Date: 1911-07-06
Event type: Acquisition consideration

IBM reports $2,312,000 consideration for Hollerith’s Tabulating Machine Company. Acquisition price is not a C-T-R share price or company-wide funding round.

Reported capital or financing: $2,312,000 acquisition consideration

Source: [IBM punched-card tabulator history](https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card-tabulator)
Source location: Hollerith’s sale of the Tabulating Machine Company to Charles Flint in 1911.

### watson — Watson joins C-T-R

Date: 1914
Event type: Operating milestone

Thomas J. Watson joined the business; the company’s operating transformation continued.

Source: [IBM corporate origins](https://www.ibm.com/history/ctr-and-ibm)
Source location: 1911 consolidation under C-T-R, constituent businesses and later IBM identity.

### name — IBM name adopted

Date: 1924
Event type: Identity milestone

The International Business Machines name followed the earlier C-T-R business.

Source: [IBM corporate origins](https://www.ibm.com/history/ctr-and-ibm)
Source location: 1911 consolidation under C-T-R, constituent businesses and later IBM identity.

## Documented share calculations

No documented private share-price and conversion model is enabled. Users may enter their own comparable prices; do not infer a per-share entry price from aggregate funding or company valuations.

## Later share adjustments

No separate share-class distribution is modeled.

## Coverage gaps and limitations

- The predecessor combination is not a modern venture round with a directly comparable IBM share price.

- The reviewed sources do not establish a private-to-current per-share conversion chain.

- Successive splits, distributions and corporate reorganizations require a separate long-run basis review.

Entered prices and later-date share-basis assumptions are unverified. Excludes fees, taxes, dividends, warrants and other distributions; fractional shares are illustrative. Historical investor allocations, minimums and selling rights are not established.

Methodology: https://capitaltimemachine.com/methodology

Research terms: https://capitaltimemachine.com/terms