Eric Benhamou (3Com)

Eric Benhamou (born in 1955 in Tlemcen, Algeria) was the former CEO of 3Com and Palm.

Born in a sephardic Jewish family originated from Toledo, Spain, he left Algeria in 1960 with his parents during Algeria's independence war. His family settled in Grenoble, France, where he grew up and attended Lycée Champollion. He continued his studies in Paris and graduated with a "diplôme d'Ingénieur" from École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers (Ai. 172), the youngest student to receive this degree, and subsequently was awarded a doctorate. In 1976, at the age of 20, he emigrated to the United States and enrolled at Stanford University. He was graduated with a Master of Science.

He worked as a software engineer for several years at Zilog, a pioneer company in microprocessors, and worked on Z-Net, the industry's first microprocessor based local area network computer system. He went on to co-found Bridge Communications in 1981 which specialized in computer network technologies. He was vice-president when the company was acquired by 3Com in 1987. Three years later, he became CEO of 3Com, a position he held between September 1990 and December 2000. Under his tenure, 3Com grew approximately 20 fold and became a Fortune 500 company. In the 90's, 3Com purchased some 30 other technology companies, the largest of which in 1997 was Chicago-based U.S. Robotics. He nurtured the internal start-up Palm Computing, and funded the development of what became the most successful handheld computer of the decade, the Palm Pilot.

Considered an outstanding entrepreneur, he won the Nessim Habif prize in 1997 from École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers. He served on PITAC, the US President'a Information Technology Advisory Council, appointed by President Bill Clinton. In 1998, he received the Medal of Honor of Ellis Island that rewards most meritorious U.S. immigrants.

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