![]() Tramiel saw some of the first electronic calculators through his Japanese contacts in the late 1960s. As part of the deal, Gould became the company's new chairman. Commodore now owed Gould money and still did not have sufficient capital to meet its payments, so Tramiel sold 17.9% of the company to Gould in 1966 for $500,000. Tramiel worked with a financier named Irving Gould to extricate himself, who brokered a deal to sell Wilson Stationers to an American company. Due to the financial scandal, Tramiel could only secure a bridge loan by paying interest well above the prime rate and putting the German factory up as collateral. The scandal left Commodore in a worse financial position as it had borrowed heavily from Atlantic to purchase Wilson, and the loan was called in. Despite heavy suspicion, the commission could not find evidence of wrongdoing by Tramiel or Kapp. Commodore was one of the Atlantic subsidiaries directly implicated in this scheme. Morgan then pocketed the money or invested it in several unsuccessful ventures. A subsequent investigation by a royal commission revealed a massive fraud scheme in which the company falsified financial records to acquire loans funneled into a web of subsidiaries where C. In 1965, Atlantic Acceptance collapsed when it failed to make a routine payment. That same year, the company made a deal with a Japanese manufacturer to produce adding machines for Commodore, and purchased the office supply retailer Wilson Stationers to serve as an outlet for its typewriters. In 1965, it purchased the furniture company for which it served as the distributor and moved its headquarters to its facilities on Warden Avenue in the Scarborough district of Toronto. It purchased a factory in West Germany to manufacture its typewriters, began distributing office furniture for a Canadian manufacturer, and sold Pearlsound radio and stereo equipment. ![]() ![]() With the financial backing of Atlantic Acceptance, Commodore expanded rapidly in the early 1960s. In 1962, the company went public on the Montreal Stock Exchange, under the name of Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd. Powell Morgan became the chairman of Commodore. To bolster the company's financial condition, Tramiel and Kapp sold a portion of the company to Atlantic Acceptance Corporation, one of Canada's largest financing companies, and Atlantic President C. Commodore funded its operations through factoring over its first two years but faced a continual cash crunch. in Toronto to sell the imported typewriters. On October 10, 1958, Tramiel and Kapp incorporated Commodore Portable Typewriter, Ltd. Tramiel made a connection with an Everest agent in England who alerted him to a business opportunity to import portable typewriters manufactured by a Czechoslovakian company into Canada. ![]() īy 1958, the adding machine business was slowing. After acquiring a local dealership selling Everest adding machines, Tramiel convinced Everest to give him and Kapp exclusive Canadian rights to its products and established Everest Office Machines in Toronto in 1955. In 1954, they partnered to sell used and reconditioned typewriters and used their profits to purchase the Singer Typewriter Company. History Founding and early years (1954-1977) Commodore logo (1965–1984) Minuteman MM3SĬommodore co-founders Jack Tramiel and Manfred Kapp met in the early 1950s while both employed by the Ace Typewriter Repair Company in New York City. Commodore was one of the world's largest personal computer manufacturers, with sales peaking in the last quarter of 1983 at $49 million (equivalent to $114 million in 2021). In 1982, the company developed and marketed the world's best-selling computer, the Commodore 64, and released its Amiga computer line in July 1985. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the home computer industry in the 1970s to early 1990s. Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel.
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