Information about Broderbund
| Founded: | 1980 |
| Website: | www.broderbund.com |
Brøderbund was founded by brothers Doug and Gary Carlston in 1980. Their sister, Cathy, joined a year later. Before founding the company, Doug was a lawyer and Gary had held a number of jobs, including teaching Swedish at an American college.
Brøderbund became a public company in 1991 (their NASDAQ symbol, no longer operative, was BROD). Their stock price and market capitalization climbed steadily to a maximum of nearly USD$80/share in late 1995, and then fell steadily in the face of continued losses for a number of years.
Brøderbund was purchased by The Learning Company in 1998 for about USD$420 million in stock. In 1999 the combined company was bought by Mattel for the astounding sum of $3.6 billion. Mattel reeled from the financial impact of this transaction, and Jill Barad, the CEO, ended up being forced out in a climate of investor outrage. Mattel then actually gave away The Learning Company in September 2000 to Gores Technology Group, a private acquisitions firm, for a share of whatever Gores could obtain by selling the company. In 2001, Gores sold The Learning Company's entertainment holdings to Ubisoft, and most of the other holdings, including the Brøderbund name, to Riverdeep.
Brøderbund is now the brand name for Riverdeep's graphic design, productivity, and edutainment titles, such as the Print Shop, Carmen Sandiego, Mavis Beacon, and Reader Rabbit titles, and also publishes software for other companies, notably Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm.
Riverdeep refers to the division simply as "Broderbund", without the 'ø' character.
Broderbund - Extensions & Converters
BAN - Creatacard Banner Project
BIZ - Print Shop Business Card File
BIZ - Creatacard Business Card Project
BIZ - PrintMaster Gold Document
BRO - Creatacard Booklet/Brochure Project
CAL - Creatacard Calendar Project
CAR - Creatacard Quarter-Fold Card Project
CER - Creatacard Certificate Project
CGF - Family Tree Creator Deluxe
CTP - American Greetings CreataCard
ENV - Creatacard Envelope Project
KFM - KEY Form Designer Form Design
KPP - Kid Pix Deluxe Slide Show
KPX - Kid Pix Deluxe Data File
LBL - Creatacard Label Project
LET - Creatacard Letterhead Project
NWS - Creatacard Newsletter or Photo Album or Presentation or Report Cover or Resume Project
PCR - Creatacard Post Card Project
PFL - Family Lawyer Data File
PHP - Creatacard Quick Prints Project
PSW - Print Shop Deluxe Ver. 6 File
SIG - Creatacard Fax Cover Sheet or Form or Sign or Photo Gallery Project
TSH - Creatacard Transfer Project
WEB - Creatacard Website Project
