Editing John Walker (programmer) (section)

== Autodesk ==
In 1982, John Walker and 12 other programmers pooled US$59,000 to start Autodesk, and began working on several computer applications.<ref name=mark>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/business/company-news-autodesk-founder-saddles-up-and-leaves.html| title=Autodesk Founder Saddles Up and Leaves| last=Markoff| first=John| date=April 28, 1994| work=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=August 22, 2017| language=en-US| issn=0362-4331| archive-date=June 19, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619214216/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/28/business/company-news-autodesk-founder-saddles-up-and-leaves.html| url-status=live}}</ref> The first completed was [[AutoCAD]],<ref name="MM">{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E3MdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3877,8593585&dq=john+walker+autodesk&hl=en|title=Micro-miracle: Autodesk has 'image' of success|last=McCarty|first=John R.|date=May 30, 1986|work=The Pittsburgh Press|access-date=March 20, 2018|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212132238/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E3MdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3877%2C8593585&dq=john%20walker%20autodesk&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> a software application for [[computer-aided design]] (CAD) and drafting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123187573419078157|title='Theocracy of Hackers' Rules Autodesk Inc., A Strangely Run Firm|last=Zachary|first=G. Pascal|date=May 29, 1992|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=March 20, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> AutoCAD had begun life as ''Interact'',<ref name="3dcadworld/ancestor">{{cite web |last1=Yares |first1=Evan |title=AutoCAD's ancestor |url=http://www.3dcadworld.com/autocads-ancestor/ |website=3D CAD World |publisher=WTWH Media, LLC |access-date=November 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201201736/http://www.3dcadworld.com/autocads-ancestor/ |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |location=AutoCAD's ancestor |date=February 17, 2012}}</ref><ref name="michaelriddle/myself">{{cite web |last1=Riddle |first1=Michael |title=Let me introduce myself |url=https://www.michaelriddle.com/?p=17 |website=[[Michael Riddle (programmer)|Michael Riddle]] |access-date=November 21, 2022 |date=October 1, 2009}}</ref> a CAD program, written by programmer [[Michael Riddle (programmer)|Michael Riddle]]<ref name="digibarn/Riddle">{{cite web |title=Mike Riddle & the Story of AutoCAD, EasyCAD, FastCAD & more |url=https://www.digibarn.com/stories/mike-riddle/index.html |website=[[DigiBarn]] |access-date=November 21, 2022 |archive-date=November 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122142726/https://www.digibarn.com/stories/mike-riddle/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> in a proprietary language. Walker and Riddle rewrote the program, and established a profit-sharing agreement for any product derived from InteractCAD. Walker subsequently paid Riddle US$10 million for all the rights.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}

The company [[Initial public offering|went public]] in 1985. By mid-1986, the company had grown to 255 employees with annual sales of over $40 million.<ref name="MM" /> That year, Walker resigned as chairman and president of the company, continuing to work as a programmer.<ref name=mark /> In 1989, Walker's book, ''The Autodesk File'', was published.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bqpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3454,490477&dq=john+walker+autodesk+file+book&hl=en|title=Telling the Story Behind Autodesk|date=November 2, 1989|work=New Straits Times|access-date=March 20, 2012|archive-date=April 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410112345/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bqpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3454,490477&dq=john+walker+autodesk+file+book&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> It describes his experiences at Autodesk, based around internal documents (particularly email) of the company.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Autodesk File: Bits of History, Words of Experience|last=Walker|first=John|date=1989|publisher=New Riders Pub.|isbn=9780934035637|language=en}}</ref>

Walker moved to Switzerland in 1991. By 1994, when he resigned from the company, it was the sixth-largest personal computer software company in the world, primarily from the sales of AutoCAD. Walker owned more than 850,000 shares of Autodesk at the time of his departure, worth about $45.8 million at the time (${{Inflation|index=USD|value=45800000|start_year=1994|fmt=c}} adjusted for inflation).<ref name=mark />