Timeline Overview

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1954 Jack Tramiel and Manfred Kapp set up a typewriter repair operation in the Bronx area of New York City.
10/10/1958 Commodore Portable Typewriter Co, Ltd is incorporated in Toronto, Canada.
06/28/1960 Commodore Portable Typewriter Company Limited purchased Herald Square Business Machines, Inc and Superior Typewriter Co., Inc.
07/21/1960 Herald-Superior Office Equipment Company, Inc was incorporated in the state of New York, USA.
05/10/1960 Commodore Business Machines, Inc is incorporated in New York.
06/07/1961 Commodore Business Machines, Inc is voluntarly dissolved in New York.

Herald-Superior Office Equipment Company, Inc of New York, USA changes its name to Commodore Business Machines, Inc.

06/30/1961 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1961) is $2,730,475.72 with a net loss of $30,563.01.
1962 Commodore's primary business is in the assembly, manufacture and sale of typewriters and adding machines. Commodore's products are sold at retail by its own personnel on locations leased in leading department store chains. In this year, Commodore introduces a new product, the Commodore Drycopy which is a thermographic copy machine. Commodore is not manufacturing the drycopy machines, rather they're importing them from abroad.
02/07/1962 Supplementary Letters Patent are issued by the Province of Ontario changing the name of the Company from "Commodore Portable Typewriter Company Limited" to "Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Limited" and converting the company to a Public Company, listed on the Canadian stock exchange.
06/30/1962 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1962) is $3,575,419.29 (excluding $750,000 received from sale of common stock at end of the fiscal year) with net income of $150,938.34. This includes revenue from the wholly-owned subsidiaries: Commodore Drycopy Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Commodore Dry Copy, Inc -- New York, NY; Commodore Business Machines, Inc. -- New York, NY.
1963 Commodore purchases Willy Feiler Zahl-Und Rechenwerke GMBH, a leading West German manufacturer of office equipment with factories in West Berlin, Stuttgart and Offenburg for $839,143.72. Commodore also purchases 203,900 shares (49.34%) of Analogue Controls, Inc of New York, NY for $276,343.66. Analogue Controls will manufacture the Commodore Drycopy machines such that Commodore will no longer have to import them from abroad. Commodore purchases Humber Typewriter and Business Equipment Co. Ltd, a small but efficient wholesale distributing company.
06/30/1963 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1963) is $6,141,032 with net income of $285,280. This includes revenue from Commodore Drycopy, Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Commodore Drycopy, Inc -- New York, NY; Commodore Business Machines, Inc -- New York, NY; Humber Typewriter and Business Equipment Limited -- Toronto, Ontario.
06/30/1964 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1964) is $7,634,469 with net income of $376,575. (This includes revenue from Willy Feiler Zahl-und Rechenwerke GmbH). Annual revenue without including Willy Feiler revenue is $5,088,449.34 with net income of $175,425.34.
03/05/1965 Jack Tramiel sends a letter to shareholders claiming that fiscal year revenue for the year ending June 30, 1964 was $7,634,469 with net income of $376,575. The actual audited financial records for this fiscal year were not provided to the Canadian Stock Exchange until March 9, 1966 and they revealed a net loss of over $1 million.
06/14/1965 Commodore Business Machines, Racan Photo-Copy Corporation and Jockey Club, Ltd are targets of a stock manipulation scheme through 41 New York Stock Exchange member firms. The 41 big board firms received large volume orders in the stocks from a non-existent Bahamian bank backed by bogus "certified" checks. Atlantic Acceptance Corporation is linked to all three companies. C. Powell Morgan is the chairman of Commodore and Atlantic.
06/17/1965 Atlantic Acceptance Corporation defaults on its entire debt of $105 million.
06/21/1965 C. Powell Morgan resigns from his position as chairman of Commodore Business Machines. He is the third Atlantic official to resign from the Commodore board, leaving the two companies with no officials in common. Wilfred P. Gregory had previously resigned his directorship position with Commodore in the days following the Atlantic scandal.
06/23/1965 Commodore purchases Willson Stationers and Envelopes Limited (Winnipeg, Manitoba) for $3,085,353. Commodore had contracted to purchase this company in April of 1965, prior to the collapse of Atlantic. To back out of the purchase would have cost Commodore their $100,000 deposit, so even though the funding had fallen through with the collapse of Atlantic, the purchase was finalized anyway.
06/30/1965 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1965) is $7,726,531 with a net loss of $1,051,714. Commodore blames the collapse of the Atlantic Acceptance Corporation for the loss.
10/29/1965 Commodore sells its 50% ownership of International Typewriter Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) for $28,378.
04/14/1966 Commodore announces plans to sell its Fenix Manufacturing, Ltd subsidiary to Litton Industries, Inc for $3,658,000 in an attempt to recover from fiscal year 1965 losses.
04/26/1966 Commodore sells its Willy Feiler Zahl-Und Rechenwerke GmbH subsidiary, but retains manufacturing rights for the electric portable typewriter which was developed at the German factory.
06/30/1966 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1966) is $6,389,366 with net income of $1,569,545.
10/01/1966 Commodore sells its Humber Typewriters and Business Equipment Limited subsidiary.
10/17/1966 C. Powell Morgan dies at age 51 from leukemia.
10/21/1966 Testimony given by C. Powell Morgan in May, 1966 is made publicly available. In the 193 page transcript, Morgan claims that Jack Tramiel "was the one responsible for Atlantic shares going down to nothing in 15 minutes."
06/30/1967 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1967) is $4,029,172 with a net loss of $224,306. This includes revenue from the wholly-owned subsidiaries: Associated Tool and Manufacturing Company Limited (and its wholly-owned subsidiary Shelburne Tool Company Limited) -- Toronto, Ontario; Belpree Company Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Commodore Drycopy Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Commodore International Limited -- Nassau, Bahamas; Commodore, S.A. -- Geneva, Switzerland; Commodore Business Machines, Inc -- New York, NY; Pearlsound Distributors Limited -- Toronto, Ontario.
06/30/1967 By statutory merger, Commodore Drycopy, Inc of New York was absorbed by Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
01/1968 Commodore introduces its first electronic calculator, the AL1000. The AL1000 is a highly advanced calculator. By moving a lever, it can be made to perform as a small computer, capable of accepting a 30-step program.
01/1968 Commodore model 401, a standard multiplier (non-electronic adding machine) is introduced.
06/30/1968 Arthur Anderson & Company replaces Rose and Harrison as Commodore's auditor.
06/30/1968 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1968) is $4,475,552 with net income of $200,898. This includes revenue from the wholly-owned subsidiaries: Belpree Company Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Associated Tool and Manufacturing Company Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Commodore Drycopy Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Commodore International Limited -- Nassau, Bahamas; Commodore, S.A. -- Geneva, Switzerland; Commodore Business Machines, Inc. -- New York, N.Y.; PearlSound Distributors Limited -- Toronto, Ontario; Shelburne Tool Company Limited -- Toronto, Ontario.
07/1968 Manfred Kapp resigns from Commodore.
07/03/1968 Commodore sells Associated Tool and Manufacturing Company, Limited to Manfred Kapp.
06/30/1969 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1969) is $8,083,704 with net income of $725,379.
06/30/1970 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1970) is $9,418,321 with net income of $594,182.
1971 New products: The hand-sized portable electronic calculator, Model C-110 is introduced at the British Efficiency Exposition in London. Visitors to the Business Equipment Manufacturers' Exhibition (BEMA) are the first to see the Commodore Minuteman 1.
06/30/1971 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1971) is $13,494,272 with a net loss of $326,934.
10/05/1971 The Model C-110 hand-sized portable electronic calculator is exhibited at the British Efficiency Exposition in London.
11/15/1971 The Model C-112 Desktop calculator makes its debut at the Canadian National Business Show in Montreal.
05/10/1974 Commodore Business Machines begins trading on the Amex on 200 shares at 5 1/2.
06/30/1974 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1974) is $49,851,000 with net income of $446,000.
06/30/1975 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1975) is $55,900,000 with a net loss of $4,300,000. Previous fiscal year revenue is restated due to a change in accounting: Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1974) is $49,900,000 with a net income of $592,000.
01/07/1975 Commodore announces that it is lowering Canadian prices of its calculator products to its United States price levels. This will help to minimize the duties, Federal sales tax and normally higher cost of doing business in Canada. Since 80% of Commodore's sales are outside of Canada, the company will be able to absorb the differential.
1976 Commodore reorganizes as a Bahamian company and changes its name to Commodore International, Ltd.
11/1976 Commodore International Ltd acquires MOS Technology, Inc for 64,462 shares of Commodore's common stock and notes payable of $143,000 (total purchase price $433,000).
04/06/1978 Dissolution of Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd.
10/22/1980 Commodore Interntional Ltd announces a 3-for-1 stock split. "We had to bring the stock back within the range of the average investor," said Leonard Schreiber, a director and general counsel of Commodore. "It was getting too high priced." He noted that Commodore had become one of the five most expensive stocks traded on the American Stock Exchange. Following the announcement, the stock fell 7 5/8 in heavy trading, to close at 106 3/4.
09/30/1980 Commodore International Ltd holds a meeting with security analysts to show off a wide range of new products including a cash register that will sell for under $2,000 and a $299 color computer aimed at the home market.
01/07/1981 James Finke joins Commodore International. He replaces Jack Tramiel as president. Jack Tramiel remains Chief Executive Officer.
06/30/1981 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1981) is $186.5 million with net income of $25.4 million.
07/28/1981 Kornhauser & Calene is chosen as the advertising agency for Commodore Computer Systems, a division of Commodore International Ltd based in King of Prussia, Pa. They are replacing Commodore's previous agency, Levine, Huntley, Schmidt, Plapler & Beaver.
10/04/1981 Commodore announces that Wordcraft 80, a superior word processing system designed for use on the Commodore 8032 business system will be at the Northeast Computer Show. A Commodore business system combined with Wordcraft 80 retails for approximately $5000, compared to most dedicated word processing systems that may cost as much as $7000 to $13000.
03/17/1982 Alan W. Fink, 45, joins Commodore International, Ltd as the first president of its newly formalized consumer products division.
04/26/1982 Commodore International contracts with the advertising agency Ally & Gargano to produce ads for the Commodore Max Machine and the Commodore 64.
06/24/1982 Commodore International Ltd. announces that James Finke is resigning from his position of president at the expiration of his contract on June 30. Mr. Finke plans to become chairman of a new subsidiary of Videovision, Inc of Ridgefield, N.J., and set up a chain of retail computer stores.
06/30/1982 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1982) is $304.5 million with net income of $40.6 million.
10/11/1982 Atari, Inc files suit against Commodore contending that Commodore has infringed on its joystick patents.
11/09/1982 Atari, Inc announces that it has won a temporary injunction against Commodore Business Machines that will prevent Commodore from making and selling joystick controllers that are imitations of the one made by Atari.
04/12/1983 Commodore offers a $100 rebate to purchasers of the Commodore 64, a $400 machine. To qualify for the rebate, purchasers must send Commodore any home computer or video game machine.
06/08/1983 Commodore International Ltd says it will cut the price of its software and hardware and will introduce about 70 new programs for its home computers. At the summer CES in Chicago, the company also said it was introducing a new portable computer for business travelers called the Executive 64, which will retail for about $1,000.
06/30/1983 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1983) is $681.2 million with net income of $91.7 million.
07/06/1983 Commodore International and Mitsumi establish a joint-venture concern to develop and make floppy-disk drives in Japan. The venture, named the Newtronics Company, will manufacture the disk drives at the Mitsumi factory in northern Japan. Newtronics, which will be capitalized at 400 million yen, or about $1.7 million USD, may expand its product line to include other equipment.
07/24/1983 Commodore International Ltd announces that it has signed a license agreement with Micron Technology Inc. of Boise, Idaho permitting Commodore to produce 64K RAM semiconductor chips. Terms were not announced. Commodore's aggressive pricing on its home computers is possible because it manufactures its own chips. Until now, Commodore did not produce its own 64K RAM chips.
08/02/1983 Myrddin Jones, vice president of marketing at Commodore Business Machines announces that they are moving their multi-million dollar advertising account out of Ally & Gargano after just over a year.
09/01/1983 Arthur E. Goodall is appointed as President and General Manager of Commodore Business Machines Limited, Scarborough, Ontario.
01/11/1984 The Commodore 264 and 364 are unveiled at the winter CES show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Commodore executives hold a surprise dinner for Jack Tramiel at the CES during which Irving Gould delivers a speech. Jack Tramiel is presented with a silver platter with his colleagues' name inscribed.
01/11/1984 The Lorraine Project is unveiled at the winter CES show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. What will eventually become the Amiga computer is now a crude prototype and does not yet have any association with Commodore.
01/13/1984 Jack Tramiel suddenly resigns as head of Commodore at age 55. Jack Tramiel owns 7 percent of Commodore and will remain as a consultant.
01/15/1984 Irving Gould denies that a dispute between directors led to the unexpected resignation of Jack Tramiel. "Jack has been working unceasingly here, and he was just tired," Irving Gould said in a New York Times telephone interview. "But the company is now more than just Jack. If we have made a wrong decision here, the bottom line will show it - but based on the current momentum of the company we are confident that is not the case."
01/17/1984 Commodore chairman Irving Gould hires Marshall F. Smith to take over for Jack Tramiel as president and chief executive officer of Commodore International. Mr. Smith was president and chief executive of Thyssen-Bornemisza, Inc, a diversified industrial company.
03/07/1984 Commodore International Ltd signs a preliminary agreement with Intel Corporation to begin making Intel's 8088 microprocessor. Details of the agreement are not disclosed, but the deal is expected to alleviate the short supply of the popular chip and will provide Commodore with an important starting point to build its own IBM-compatible computer.
06/30/1984 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1984) is $1,267.2 million with net income of $143.8 million.
07/06/1984 Commodore Business Machines signs an agreement with 7 banks for a total of $125 million in newly available credit. The pact provides for $100 million in a revolving term loan, maturing on July 1, 1989 and $25 million in additional lines of credit.
07/14/1984 A Pennsylvania judge, M. Joseph Melody, Jr, temporarily extends an injunction that prevents four former employees of Commodore International Ltd from revealing any Commodore trade secrets at their new jobs with Atari Inc. Judge Melody issued the original injunction earlier in the week in response to a Commodore suit. The suit charged that the four former employees had stolen trade secrets with an intent to divulge them to Atari.
07/17/1984 Commodore International Ltd agrees to acquire the Amiga Corporation. Terms are not disclosed. The acquisition will not be finalized for several months. Amiga is a closely held concern based in Snata Clara, California
08/03/1984 The US Federal Trade Commission announces that Commodore has agreed to discontinue the practice of advertising equipment it could not supply. The FTC claims that Commodore advertised its Commodore 64 computer as being CP/M compatible, when it was only compatible if used with an additional CP/M cartridge. The Commodore 64 was introduced in August 1982, the FTC said, and the CP/M cartridge did not become available until the summer of 1983.
08/13/1984 Atari files suit against Amiga Corporation in a Santa Clara, California Superior Court charging Amiga with fraud. Amiga had been working under contract with Atari to create three microchips for a total of $500,000. Amiga canceled the deal, returned the $500,000 and told Atari the chips did not work. Atari claims the chips do work and they believe these chips will form the basis of a new computer that Commodore plans to market next year.
08/22/1984 Commodore Business Machines appoints Robert C. Cadmus vice president of operations.
11/19/1984 Commodore International hires Clive G. Smith away from the Yankee Group, the market research and consulting firm, to become vice president of corporate planning and development. One of Mr. Smith's main tasks will be to help develop the company's new Amiga line of personal computers.
12/12/1984 Commodore International, West Chester, Pa., appoints Adam Chowaniec vice president of technology and Frank J. Corso vice president of finance for Commodore Business Machines.
01/26/1985 Commodore International Ltd announces that it is temporarily laying off 540 workers at two Pennsylvania factories because of lagging sales of its Commodore 64 home computer. A company spokesperson said the layoffs, which would last up to 10 weeks, would help the company reduce its inventories of computers. The layoffs will affect 240 workers at its West Chester plant and another 300 at its Valley Forge semiconductor plant.
03/01/1985 Commodore International chooses Ted Bates Advertising/New York as its advertising agency. Bates will create all of the advertising but place only the print advertising. Broadcast placement will continue to be the job of the Botway Group, a media buying service in New York. Previously, Disk Rich did the TV advertising and Drossman Lehmann Marino did the print advertising. Commodore also names Geltzer & Company as its public relations agency.
04/1985 Thomas J. Rattigan is hired as the president of North American operations with the understanding that he will replace Marshall Smith as CEO of Commodore. Mr. Rattigan was previously the president and chief executive of Pepsico's international bottling division. He received a bachelor's degree from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Harvard. He is married and has four children.
06/30/1985 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1985) is $883.1 million with a net loss of $113.9 million.
07/23/1985 The Amiga 1000 is announced by Commodore at an event in New York's Lincoln Center with much fanfare. The event includes a live presentation by the famous artist, Andy Warhol, using Graphicraft software to create a portrait of rock singer Debbie Harry who is also in attendance.
08/08/1985 A company controlled by the family of Perry Krieger is attempting to revive Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Ltd which was dissolved more than 7 years ago. Their attorney claims that a subsidiary of Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Ltd named Associated Tool & Manufacturing Ltd signed a 20 year lease with his client in 1967 but defaulted on its lease in 1983 and was placed in receivership.
09/30/1985 Commodore International Ltd's bank debt to its major lenders, the Continental Illinois Corporation, the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and Barclays Bank, totals $192 million.
08/22/1985 Commodore International Ltd. announces that it will lay off 700 employees worldwide, or 15% of its workforce.
12/02/1985 Thomas J. Rattigan is named president and chief operating officer of Commodore International. As president, Mr. Rattigan succeeds Marshall F. Smith. Mr. Smith will retain his title of chief executive officer and assume the new position of vice chairman.
12/27/1985 John A. Widlicka is appointed senior vice president of marketing and consumer products sales. Frank Leonardi is appointed senior vice president of business products sales.
01/10/1986 Commodore announces that it will close its semiconductor manufacturing facility in Costa Mesa, California and consilidate its operations in its Norristown, Pa semiconductor plant in an effort to reduce costs. This plant closing will cause about 200 people to be laid off.
02/01/1986 Commodore International announces that its major lenders have given it additional time to renegotiate loan agreements for which it is already in technical default. Commodore's major lenders had previously granted the company a waiver which expired today. The waiver has now been extended through February. Marshall F. Smith says that rumors "as to Commodore's bankruptcy are completely ill founded."
02/07/1986 Info Designs Inc announces that a Commodore International Subsidiary has agreed to pay them $935,000 after an arbitration settlement. Info Designs created 12 software titles for the Plus/4 series computers, and were contractually supposed to receive a minimum of $150,000 per quarter in royalty payments regardless of the number of Plus/4 computers that Commodore sold. The $935,000 included back royalties and $35,000 in attorney fees.
02/21/1986 Amiga Fest '86 is held at a San Diego, CA hotel. The five Computerland dealers in the county drummed up attendance through customer mailings and newspapers ads, of which Commodore paid 75 percent of the costs.
03/24/1986 Commodore International, Ltd announces that effective April 1, Thomas J. Rattigan will replace Marshall Smith as CEO of Commodore International. Mr. Rattigan will also retain his position as president of Commodore International. Marshall Smith, age 56, will remain a director and consultant to the company.
03/26/1986 Commodore announces that it will offer a $500 discount on its Amiga personal computer from April 7 through May 31. This discount brings the price of an Amiga (including a color monitor) down to $1,295.
04/30/1986 Commodore introduces its Amiga personal computer in Europe this week. Thomas Rattigan says the European sales efforts should help Commodore with domestic sales of the Amiga.
06/30/1986 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1986) is $889.3 million with a net loss of $127.9 million.
08/22/1986 Commodore Business Machines UK, which closed its manufacturing plant at Corby, Northants, in January with the loss of 250 jobs, is moving the remaining sales, marketing and administrative operation to Maidenhead.
03/25/1987 Commodore International Ltd announces that all pending litigation between Commodore and Atari Corporation has been settled. Atari had sued Amiga Corporation, which was later acquired by Commodore, for breach of contract in a deal to develop a new computer. Atari subsequently sued Commodore in Federal court for patent infringement. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
04/20/1987 Security guards order Thomas Rattigan to leave the company's headquarters in West Chester, Pa.
04/22/1987 Thomas J. Rattigan resigns from his position as CEO of Commodore International and represented by attorney George Bresler, files a $9 million lawsuit against Commodore charging breach of contract. Mr. Rattigan's contract was supposed to run until July 1991. He claims that his resignation was not voluntary.
04/23/1987 Irving Gould replaces Thomas Rattigan as CEO of Commodore International.
04/23/1987 Commodore International's stock (CBU) drops $1.375 to $10.50/share on the NYSE.
04/23/1987 Commodore appoints Alfred Duncan as general manager of its American operations, replacing Nigel Shepherd who was dismissed. Mr. Duncan was formerly a manager of Commodore's Canadian and Italian subsidiaries.
04/23/1987 Richard McIntyre is appointed to the newly created position of general sales manager for Commodore International. Mr. McIntyre was previously a manager in Commodore's Canadian subsidiary.
06/30/1987 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1987) is $806.7 million with net income of $28.6 million.
10/06/1987 Commodore International Ltd announces that Max Toy is named president and chief operating officer of its Commodore Business Machines unit. Mr. Toy was formerly senior vice president of sales and government products at Xtra Business Systems, a unit of the ITT Corporation.
06/30/1988 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1988) is $871.1 million with net income of $55.8 million.
01/04/1989 Commodore International announces that the IRS is demanding $74.1 million in back taxes from Commodore Business Machines, Inc for the period 1981 to 1983. Commodore plans to contest this allegation, claiming that the IRS doesn't understand their corporate structure. Specifically, the fact that most of their revenue is generated in overseas markets.
02/01/1989 Commodore International Ltd announces that it has named Mehdi Ali, a managing director at Dillon, Read & Company, as its new president. Mr. Ali, 43 years old, has been a member of Commodore's board since August and a special advisor to Commodore for three years. This position had been vacant since Thomas Rattigan was fired in April of 1987.
04/25/1989 Commodore International Ltd announces that Harold D. Copperman is named president and chief operating officer of its American division, Commodore Business Machines.
06/30/1989 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1989) is $939.7 million with net income of $51.3 million.
07/06/1989 Commodore International Ltd names Brian C. Weyman vice president of worldwide manufacturing and purchasing.
08/04/1989 Commodore Business machines Pty Ltd (Sydney, Australia) was fined a total of $250,000 in federal court yesterday for breaches of the Trade Practices Act. Commodore was found guilty in seven instances of refusing or threatening to refuse to supply dealers who advertised Amiga computers for sale at below the recommended retail price.
04/24/1990 Commodore International Ltd announces the Amiga 3000 at a news conference in New York. The Amiga 3000 has a suggested retail price of $3,299 to $4,499, depending on the processor and hard drive.
05/09/1990 Nolan Bushnell, original founder of Atari, joins Commodore at age 47 as the "general manager in charge of consumer interactive products" to head a special team to develop and market interactive multimedia products. This is the team that ultimately created the CDTV.
05/21/1990 Commodore International Ltd announces it has won a five-year subcontract with the U.S. Treasury Department under which it expects to supply more than 3,000 of its Amiga personal computers. The subcontract was awarded as part of a $400 million contract won by Sears Business Systems, a unit of Sears, Roebuck & Co.
06/30/1990 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1990) is $887.3 million with net income of $1.5 million.
11/06/1990 Commodore International, Ltd names its vice president, Ronald B. Alexander, to the additional position of cheif financial officer.
12/1990 Commodore celebrates the sale of its 2 millionth Amiga. Amiga now accounts for about 55 percent of Commodore's worldwide sales.
01/1991 Commodore introduces the CDTV at the winter CES show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
01/08/1991 Commodore International, Ltd announces that it will replace the president of its U.S. unit, Harold Cooperman, with James Dionne who most recently headed the company's Canadian unit. Commodore also announces that it will lay off 10 to 15 percent of its 600 person U.S. workforce in an attempt to boost margins.
05/1991 Commodore begins shipping CDTV units to stores in five California cities. The CDTV has a list price of $999.
06/01/1991 Commodore introduces the CDTV at the summer CES show in Chicago, Illinois.
02/15/1991 After a two week trial, a federal jury in Manhattan, New York finds in favor of Thomas J. Rattigan in his four year legal battle against Commodore in which he was seeking $9 million in damages. Federal Judge Michael Mukasey sets a hearing date for 02/27/1991 to determine the damages to be awarded.
06/30/1991 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1991) is $1,047.2 million with net income of $48.2 million.
03/26/1992 Commodore International, Ltd settles a tax dispute with the IRS for $2 million. The tax agency sued Commodore, claiming it owed $109 million for the years 1981-1986.
06/02/1992 Commodore International, Ltd announces that Merisel Inc. will distribute Commodore's entire multimedia personal computer product line to U.S. resellers. The products include the Commodore Amiga series and the CDTV multimedia player. Merisel, of El Segundo, California distributes microcomputer hardware and software products.
06/30/1992 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1992) is $911 million with net income of $27.6 million.
06/30/1993 Annual revenue (year ending June 30, 1993) is $590.8 million with a net loss of $356.5 million.
03/28/1994 Commodore International Ltd releases a quarterly earnings report in which it warns, "In the absence of additional resources and a restructuring, the company may become subject to reorganization or other liquidation proceedings." For the second quarter ended Dec. 31, Commodore had a loss of $8.2 million, or 25 cents a share. Commodore's stock (CBU) fell 12.5 cents to $3 on the NYSE.
04/29/1994 Commodore International Ltd announced that its board authorized the transfer of the company's assets to trustees for the benefit of its creditors and placed its subsidiary, Commodore Electronics, Ltd into voluntary liquidation.
05/02/1994 The New York Stock Exchange announced that trading in the common stock of Commodore International Ltd was suspended. Trading had been available under the symbol CBU.
05/01/1995 Escom purchases the rights to trademarks, logos, products, and licenses for Commodore and Amiga products for $10 million.

Copyright 2008, Dave McMurtrie

Notes:

1) The dates listed may not be exact. When an article cited a specific date, that date was used. In the absence of a date being cited in an article, the publish date of the article was used instead.

2) Commodore had many separate corporate entities. In each timeline entry, I used the name exactly as it was cited in the article that it was taken from. All of the news articles that I referenced were from American publications, so it's likely that when the generic "Commodore" name was used they were referring to one of the American business units.

3) All earnings reports are listed as June 30 of the year regardless of when Commodore actually filed them. This may cause some news articles to appear erroneous (see 1965).

4) In cases where I found multiple news stories covering the same event, there were often conflicting reports. I tried to use my best judgment in these cases. If I could find multiple sources that were in agreement, I'd use that. The sale of Commodore to Escom was a particularly difficult news story to nail down accurately.