“I Really Wish I Hadn’t Sold [Atari]” Says Co-founder

We all make mistakes, some are not too bad so we don’t worry about them. But there are some mistakes made that people just wish they could go back in time to change the situation.

Atari’s co-founder, Nolan Bushnell is one of those people. “I really wish I hadn’t sold it,” he said.

Apparently, Bushnell didn’t understand the nature of Wall Street and so he sold the entire company. Nolan said he had a very short attention span back then, a sickness he called “5-year ADD”. The man just got “bored” and “tired” of all his business ventures around the five year mark.

“I sold completely because I didn’t understand Wall Street,” he admitted. “In retrospect, I really wish I hadn’t sold it.”

He said Warner Bros. purchased the company after he had put word out that the firm was looking for investors.

Bushnell and Dabney, the two founders, sold to Warner Bros. in 1976 for $28 million. Two years later, Bushnell was forced out over a dispute concerning the Atari 2600’s lifespan and Warner’s “closed software strategy”.

And that’s the way the boat sank, folks. As you know, Atari’s no longer in the console manufacturing business, as is, the company’s struggling just to stay afloat.

As for Bushnell, he rejoined Atari’s board of directors back in April.

Merci, GI.Biz.