Commodore was originally formed in Canada and initially produced mechanical typewriters and calculators.
In 1965, Jack Tramiel, Commodore's founder and CEO, decided to purchase the Canadian store chain Wilson's Stationers to provide a sales channel for their products.
To fund the purchase they borrowed $3 million from Atlantic Acceptance Corporation at an 11% interest rate.
[1] Through the late 1960s and early 1970s, Japanese companies began introducing typewriters and calculators at price points Commodore could not match.
In the mid-1970s, Gould told Tramiel that the Japanese were starting to produce calculators using CMOS electronics that were going to "kick your butt".
Tramiel responded by buying MOS Technology to supply microprocessors and moving into the computer market.
In a 1986 interview with Dr. Achim Becker for the German newspaper Data Welt, at the question to Jack Tramiel "Why did you leave Commodore?
The man I worked for thought this would dilute his share in the company and lose influence in the process - that was absolutely wrong.