Upon graduation, Opel had two job offers, one to rewrite economics textbooks, and the other to take over his father's hardware business. While taking a fishing trip with his father and a family friend who worked for IBM, he was offered a third job as a salesman in central Missouri, and accepted. In 1959, Opel became executive assistant to IBM CEO
Thomas J. Watson Jr., after which he rose rapidly, taking positions in manufacturing and public relations and other departments, and managed the introduction of the
IBM System/360 mainframe computer in 1964. In 1974, he was elected president. ==Death==