Facts about Excel
1. The
father of Excel is widely considered to be this man. Douglas Kundler. In 1981,
Kundler joined Microsoft straight out of MIT and served as the Lead Developer
for Excel. 
2. Excel
1.0 was largely based on Microsoft’s graphical Multiplan spreadsheet
application and a Charting application it developed for the MAC. Those two
applications combined became the foundation for Excel.
3. When
Microsoft released Excel in 1985, they entered into an exclusivity contract
with Apple promising not to release a PC version of Excel for two years. In
exchange, Microsoft would get the code details for many of the MAC’s system
features. PC users would not see Excel until 1987 when Apple’s two-year
contract expired. Before 1987, PC users were stuck with the DOS version of
Multiplan.
4. Lotus
1-2-3 was never ported to the MAC. Instead, Lotus decided to develop a new
spreadsheet program for the MAC called Jazz. In fact, it was the threat of Jazz
that forced Microsoft into the strategic decision to release Excel on the MAC
instead of their own DOS system. In the end though, Jazz was steamy turd that
nobody liked. It failed miserably, making Excel the clear winner on the MAC.
This promoted development
of a new spreadsheet called Excel which started with the intention
to 'do everything 1-2-3 does and do
it better'.