That award, which is now valued at $1 million thanks to funding from Google, is just another high point in Metcalfe’s illustrious career. He started 3com, a networking equipment business that popularised Ethernet, after leaving Xerox PARC. On May 22, 2023, Ethernet will celebrate 50, and Metcalfe warned the University of Texas, where he is currently a professor emeritus, that accepting an award for its invention would be risky. “Over the course of Ethernet’s 50-year history, hundreds of people have staked a claim to invention. Please join me in thanking these people.
