Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!portal!atari!good
From: good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.m68k
Subject: Re: Obsolete Computers
Message-ID: <1145@atari.UUCP>
Date: 30 Aug 88 17:34:00 GMT
References: <2190@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 43

in article <2190@ssc-vax.UUCP>, paema@ssc-vax.UUCP (Marvin P Willoughby) says:
> 
> Does anyone know if anything is left of the old Fortune Systems.
> I thought it would just be a matter of time before the thing folded
> and left everyone high and dry. Fortune never did give much support
> anyway so far as I can tell.

SCI Systems, Huntsville Alabama, acquired "substantially all of the assets"
of Fortune Systems in the middle of 1987. What was left was essentially the
holding company (ie $20M+, a large tax-loss carry forward (>$70M) and a
subsidiary doing Word:Era, a UNIXtm word processor based on Fortune:Word).
This remnant then changed its name to Tigera Group, since SCI bought all
rights to the name Fortune. In an associated deal, a Monaco-based group
named Orion Trading (with Australian financing) acquired rights to use
the name of Fortune's 32-bit line (ie "Formula") on non-Fortune products.
[Draw a flowchart - it's easy then!]
Tigera recently announced that it is trying to sell the software subsidiary,
and has started rolling its losses in with those still being attributed to
the other "discontinued operations" (ie the sold-off bits). Thus Tigera is
now essential an investment company with around $20M looking to acquire
companies for ongoing business. Stock (NASDAQ-"TYGR") is trading at 1-1/16.
Tigera is apparently working on an annual report for year ended 12/31/87,
but doesn't plan a shareholders meeting this year. I guess the SEC don't 
mandate one, unless a shareholder insists.

Fortune Systems continues as a part of SCI, and is based at Shoreway Road,
San Carlos, California (Tel: 415 593 9000). Almost all the senior people
left within 9 months of the SCI acquisition, many sooner. The group is
down to around 50-60 people now, I believe, handling R&D, support, sales
and marketing. There is also a Repair group based at a different location
in San Carlos. Manufacturing is done via Huntsville, although parts are
built in SCI's manufacturing facilities elsewhere (eg Milpitas).
Fortune's 32-bit Formula has V.3.1 up on it, and SCI's own Multibus-I based
systems also have V.x, but using 80x86 rather than 68020.
SCI is a large contract manufacturing company (Aerospace, military, OEMs,
IBM PC PCBAs etc) which bought Fortune as a vehicle to distribute its
80x86 products. SCI is also traded on NASDAQ as "SCIS" - around $12. Fiscal
year ends 6/30, so its time for an Annual Report!
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Roy J. Good
Product Development, Atari Corporation
Views expressed are my own. Atari may agree or disagree; they have the right.
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