Editing Altera (section)

== Early history ==
The company was founded in 1983 by semiconductor veterans Robert Hartmann, Paul Newhagen, James Sansbury, and Michael Magranet with $1,300,000 in [[seed money]]. The name of the company was a play on "alterable", the type of chips the company created. The founders selected Rodney Smith to be the company's first CEO.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-12 |title=Altera: The Once and Future FPGA Supplier, Part 2 |url=https://www.eejournal.com/article/altera-the-once-and-future-fpga-supplier-part-2/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=EEJournal |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1988, Altera became a [[public company]] via an [[initial public offering]] (IPO).<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 2003 |title=The Road to Innovation Drive |url=http://ebook.pldworld.com/_semiconductors/altera/literature/_nv/03nvq2.pdf |journal=Altera News & Views |volume=2003 |issue=Q2 |pages=5–10}}</ref>