Thomas Watson Jr. was a man who took risks and had a business strategy that worked. After earning a business degree from Brown University in 1937, he worked for his father, Thomas Watson Sr., as a salesman for IBM. After some time with the company, he entered the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. His experience during the war gave him the confidence to eventually become the CEO of IBM in May 1956. Watson Jr. took a “$5 Billion Gamble” (named such by Fortune Magazine) and came out ahead with a computer lineup far superior to other computers.