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based video game was, "I think it's a dumb idea. We've never really made an action game out of a movie." Ultimately though, the decision was not Kassar's to make and it went through, and it was reported that Atari Inc. had paid US$ 20–25 million for the rights—an abnormally high figure for video game
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One of the most notable turnovers was when four programmers were unsatisfied with their paychecks. They felt they were making a very paltry salary for someone who actually designed the games that made the company millions of dollars. They wanted a small commission, but when they asked Kassar about
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was fired after a dispute with Warner over the future of Atari Inc., Kassar became CEO. Kassar's twenty-five years at
Burlington Industries had given him a taste for order, organization, and efficiency and his efforts to revamp Atari along similar lines provoked substantial animosity. Atari Inc.
428:. Kassar settled, returning his profits without acknowledging guilt or innocence. The shares that Kassar sold actually constituted only a small amount of his total holdings in the company, and the SEC later cleared him of any wrongdoing.
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During the Kassar years, Atari Inc.'s sales grew from $ 75 million in 1977 to over $ 2.2 billion just three years later. Though Atari enjoyed some of its greatest success during this period, the stifling atmosphere and lack of
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company at the time, and president of its
Burlington House division. A member of the Board of Directors, Kassar had spent 26 years at Burlington. He left the company to start his own textile company that manufactured
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season. Kassar became unaffectionately known to many at Atari Inc. as the "sock king" and the "towel czar" (due to his previous years in the textile industry) after he once referred to Atari
457:. The exhibition, entitled "Painterly Photographs: The Raymond E. Kassar Collection", presented 33 works made for exhibition from 1900 to 1910, featuring some of the most important
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or recognition to the individual game designers angered employees, many of whom quit. During this period, nearly all members of the original Atari Inc. staff, including
375:. In recognition, the university named a university building the "Edward W. Kassar House" after his father. The Kassar House is currently home to the university's
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only 23 minutes before a much lower than expected fourth quarter earnings report would cause Warner stock to drop nearly 40% in value in the following days. The
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Book about the
Lucasfilm Computer Division (DROIDMAKER: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution) has a detailed chapter on Atari and Kassar.
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The
Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon--The story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
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265:, who at the time owned Atari. By this time, rifts had begun to develop between the original Atari Inc. staff (most of whom had
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In July 1983, Kassar was fired due to continuing massive losses at Atari. In
December 1982, Kassar had sold 5,000 shares of
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licensing at the time. The game was not only poorly received and sold poorly, but demand had been widely overestimated.
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and
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who puts it together." Crane and three others resigned from Atari and formed their own company:
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recalls that Kassar responded, "You are no more important to that game than the guy on the
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Ray Kassar was hired in
February 1978 as president of Atari's consumer division by
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backgrounds) and the new hires brought in by Warner (who, like Kassar, mostly had
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culled from Kassar's significant personal collection were on display at the
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company at the time, and president of its
Burlington House division.
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He was a collector and private investor and sat on the Board of the
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accused Kassar and then Atari Inc. vice-president Dennis Groth of
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began to promote games all year around instead of just at the
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From
December 2, 2000 until February 11, 2001 a series of
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High Score!: The
Illustrated History of Electronic Games
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Painterly Photographs: The Raymond E. Kassar Collection
439:, replaced him as CEO of Atari Inc. in September 1983.
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management style, but Kassar was not held accountable.
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Hubner, John; Kistner, William F. (28 November 1983).
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from 1978 to 1983. He had previously been executive
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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346:In 1981, the highly popular and successful game
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276:In November 1978, when Atari Inc. co-founder
625:, by Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson (2003)
426:trading stock with illegal insider knowledge
258:and marketed them under the "Kassar" label.
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242:of the company, it was the world's largest
579:"Former Atari Chief Charged On Stock Sale"
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367:In 1982, Kassar donated a sum of money to
202:(January 2, 1928 – December 10, 2017) was
508:"The Industry: What went wrong at Atari?"
311:, quit or were fired. Atari Inc.'s upper
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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382:Contrary to popular belief, Kassar was
238:in 1948 and later became the executive
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386:responsible for the deal to make the
730:American technology chief executives
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400:, was the one who was in talks with
47:adding citations to reliable sources
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565:The Ultimate History of Video Games
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577:Ross, Nancy (September 27, 1983).
485:in Los Angeles and in 2012 to the
422:Securities and Exchange Commission
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686:(A Warner Communications Company)
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392:game from the blockbuster movie.
541:"Interview—Howard Scott Warshaw"
396:, CEO of Atari's parent company
319:rates. Many blamed Ray Kassar's
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461:artists of the time, including
431:Upon Ray Kassar's resignation,
34:needs additional citations for
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339:, which became the first ever
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648:Ray Kassar and Space Invaders
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234:Ray Kassar began working for
740:Businesspeople from Brooklyn
539:Keith, Phipps (2005-02-02).
516:. Vol. 5, no. 48.
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518:InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.
455:Santa Barbara Museum of Art
293:" in an interview with the
16:American business executive
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444:American Hospital of Paris
389:E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
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653:Info on the Kassar House
520:pp. 151–158 (157).
735:Brown University alumni
222:, the world's largest
487:Neue Galerie New York
418:Warner Communications
398:Warner Communications
352:was released for the
341:third party developer
315:also suffered severe
296:San Jose Mercury News
263:Warner Communications
236:Burlington Industries
220:Burlington Industries
200:Raymond Edward Kassar
483:J. Paul Getty Museum
358:Howard Scott Warshaw
43:improve this article
666:Business positions
584:The Washington Post
164:Vero Beach, Florida
681:CEO of Atari, Inc.
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588:. Retrieved
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158:(2017-12-10)
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58:"Ray Kassar"
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41:Please help
36:verification
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720:2017 deaths
715:1928 births
543:. A.V. Club
451:photographs
377:mathematics
329:David Crane
287:programmers
267:engineering
171:Nationality
709:Categories
691:1979–1983
547:2009-12-10
493:References
394:Steve Ross
373:alma mater
362:Activision
354:Atari 2600
337:Activision
321:autocratic
313:management
212:Atari Inc.
192:Atari Inc.
179:Occupation
147:, New York
137:1928-01-02
125:Ray Kassar
69:newspapers
567:, p. 237.
526:0199-6649
513:InfoWorld
309:Al Alcorn
305:royalties
299:in 1979.
283:Christmas
204:president
182:Executive
590:April 6,
317:turnover
271:business
174:American
145:Brooklyn
99:May 2020
612:(2001)
244:textile
224:textile
83:scholar
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563:Kent,
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459:camera
371:, his
327:that,
252:shirts
249:cotton
230:Career
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608:, by
414:stock
256:Egypt
210:, of
90:JSTOR
76:books
627:ISBN
614:ISBN
592:2021
522:ISSN
477:and
406:E.T.
153:Died
131:Born
62:news
416:in
384:not
364:".
254:in
218:of
208:CEO
45:by
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