WordPerfect Corporation: A Timeline
WordPerfect began in the summer of 1977 as a design by Alan Ashton, a computer science professor at Brigham Young University, and was written with his graduate student Bruce Bastian for Orem City's Data General computer. This video follows it year by year.
Satellite Software International was incorporated in September 1979 and sold SSI*WP from March 1980 at $5,500 a copy. WordPerfect 2.20 for the IBM PC shipped on 26 November 1982, named after a staff contest it nearly lost. Free phone support, and a stumble by WordStar's maker MicroPro in November 1984, took it to the top: version 4.2 (26 October 1986), built for law offices, and a 30% share at the start of 1987. WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS (6 November 1989), with its blue screen, Reveal Codes and function-key templates, took about 70% of PC word processing sales in 1990, and the company's sales reached $533 million in 1991.
Then the bet on OS/2. Word for Windows arrived in November 1989 and Windows 3.0 in May 1990; WordPerfect for Windows did not ship until 4 November 1991. Microsoft Office sold Word, Excel and PowerPoint as one suite, and by 1995 it had 86.5% of the suite market against 5.4% for WordPerfect's suite (AP).
Novell agreed to buy WordPerfect in March 1994 for $1.4 billion in shares, worth about $855 million when the deal closed in June. On 31 January 1996 Novell sold it to Corel for $115 million plus at least $70 million in royalties. Novell's antitrust suit over Windows 95, filed in November 2004, ended with a hung jury (2011), judgment for Microsoft (2012), a Tenth Circuit opinion by Neil Gorsuch (23 September 2013) and the Supreme Court's refusal to hear it (28 April 2014).
WordPerfect is still sold by Corel, which relaunched under Vector Capital in May 2026. Bruce Bastian died on 16 June 2024.
No figure appears without its date and source.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
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Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- Data General Nova 3 minicomputer (1975) - the Data General machine family SSI*WP first ran on: Wolfgang Stief, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AData_General_Nova_3.jpg
- IBM PC 5150 with monochrome display - the machine WordPerfect was ported to in 1982: Fried Dough, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIbm_computer_pc_5150_%286049156797%29.jpg
- Compaq Portable (c.1983) running WordPerfect 5.0 for DOS: Anthony J. Bentley, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACompaq_Portable_and_Wordperfect.JPG
- WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS - the blue screen (screenshot): No machine-readable author provided. Daniel Pritchard assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWordperfect-5.1-dos.png
- WordPerfect for UNIX Systems 4.2 on magnetic tape, evaluation copy 1991: Wolfgang Stief, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWordPerfect_for_Unix_Systems_magnetic_tape.jpg
- Microsoft's Redmond west campus from the air, 2009: Jelson25, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAerial_Microsoft_West_Campus_August_2009.jpg
- Byron R. White U.S. Courthouse, Denver - home of the 10th Circuit, which affirmed against Novell in 2013: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFront_exterior%2C_Byron_R._White_U.S._Courthouse%2C_Denver%2C_Colorado_LCCN2010719086.tif
- Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the 10th Circuit's Novell v. Microsoft opinion (official portrait, 2017): Franz Jantzen, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAssociate_Justice_Neil_Gorsuch_Official_Portrait.jpg
Primary sources
- W. E. Pete Peterson, 'Almost Perfect' (Prima, 1994; online at wordplace.com) - Ashton's 1977 design; Eyring and Orem City; SSI incorporated September 1979; SSI*WP March 1980 at $5,500; sales 1980-1991; the name contest; free support; 4.1L for legal; renamed 1986; 30% share in 1987; 60-70% share 1989-90; hold jockeys (1990); OS/2 bet and 31 May 1990; WPwin outsold Word for Windows in November 1991; Peterson's departure, March 1992..
- Edward Mendelson, 'WPDOS: A Chronology of Versions' (mendelson.org) - 2.20 on 26 Nov 1982; 4.0 Nov 1984; 4.1 Oct 1985; 4.2 on 26 Oct 1986; 5.0 on 5 May 1988; 5.1 on 6 Nov 1989; 6.0 on 1 Jun 1993; WordPerfect for Windows 5.1 on 4 Nov 1991.
- Deseret News, 'Novell-WordPerfect deal creates a new Utah giant', 23 March 1994 - $1.4 billion; 1993 revenues.
- Deseret News, Sharon M. Haddock, 'Novell, WordPerfect tie the knot', 27 June 1994 - 59 million shares and options, about $855 million; Quattro Pro for nearly $145 million.
- Associated Press, 'Corel corrals Novell's WordPerfect', Roanoke Times, 1 February 1996 - $115 million plus at least $70 million royalties, at least $185 million; Frankenberg quotation; 1995 suite and word processor shares.
- Deseret News, 'Corel to buy WordPerfect from Novell', 31 January 1996 - November 1995 decision to sell; about 500 jobs; tripling Corel's sales.
- US Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, Novell v. Microsoft, 731 F.3d 1064, 23 September 2013 (Gorsuch, J.) - October 1994 withdrawal of namespace extensions; 2011 trial; holding; opening sentence.
- The Register, 19 December 2011 and 28 April 2014; Fox News/AP, December 2011; Techdirt, 17 July 2012 - the deadlocked jury, Judge Motz's ruling and the Supreme Court's refusal.
- Microsoft statement on Novell's WordPerfect legal action, 12 November 2004.
- Washington Post obituary of Bruce Bastian, 5 July 2024; The Register, 3 July 2024.
- Corel newsroom, 'Corel Corporation Relaunches as Independent Company Backed by Vector Capital', 5 May 2026; Corel/Parallels announcement, 26 February 2026.
Not regulated financial advice.