This is a short article I've dug out from an old polish paper magazine
called "Komputer". It was published in July 1987. Here is an english
translation...
Sorry for my not so good english. (better than my Polish :) - Spiny)
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"People of the microworld - Jack Tramiel" translation: sAuL0t 2k + 1
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"Jack Tramiel (58 years old) was born in Poland. His grandfather Jakub
was a merchant selling barrels in the city of Lodz, who could, in
times of low demand, switch to selling soured cucumber and cabbage,
packaged in the same barrels, and business would go on.
In search for a better life in 1947, Jack left Poland and through the
next couple of years he had no exeptional successes. He had a
small company repairing typewriters in the Bronx. The company wasn't
a great success, but the its name was slighty better :
- "Commodore"( :-))))) ).
The number of typewriters needing repair was dwindling, Jack switched
to producing computers and the company started evolving and eventually
reached acapital turnover of over a billion dollars. In 1984 he was
forced to leave the company (simultanously withdrawing all invested
capital), the result of a conflict of interests, which no agreement
could be reached, with the main shareholder, Irving Gould. After that
he bought the living legend (at this time in major financial trouble)
Atari, the first company on the electronic games market, which in 1983
had losses of 500 million dollars. Tramiel invested 30 million of his
own cash and added 45 million from loans granted by several banks and
quickly started work. First off he sacked approximatly 900 employees,
then he employed his three sons and around thirty other people who had
followed him from Commodore.
In a year Atari had designed brand new and cheap microcomputers called
the ST series, which went on to become a great success on the market.
In the case of his sons, Tramiel frequently repeats, that "business is
like war" and that "Harvard cannot teach business, you must bring it
from home" And in reality, for 27 year old Gary, his first impressions
of childhood are stock-lists from papers... 37 year old Leonard who in
1984 left his doctorate of astrophysics to come back to business, to
help push Atari into deeper waters. Samuel was the president of the
company, and in reality, ruled his father.
Jack Tramiel was considered as a very hard-hearted businessman. It's
impossible for him to throw out his share in Atari -in overall Tramiel
family has over 50% of share and Jack himself has 45%.He can kick out
subordinates, even from higher management levels, without any serious
reason; on a whim he can pull out from contracts worth millions of
dollars. He is not talkative in contact with press - he says what he
wants, but not what the journalist and press are expecting. He fully
uses his right to refuse giving any information (lot of bravery is
needed to do such a thing in the USA). He simply remains cautious.
Tramiel, as his friend says, has great ambitions to write himself into
history as a man who gave to the masses a very good and simultanously
very cheap computer. Without doubt he did this at Commodore, and now
at Atari, he is definatly on his way to repeating himself."
There is nothing left to write. Cry, laugh or scream. Do what you like
-there is nothing more you can do...
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CHOSNECK team contact us:
people faithful 2 da roots! atarimsb@wp.pl
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