Jack Tramiel
Holocaust survivor who founded Commodore and launched the Commodore 64
- Lived
- 83 yrs
- 1928 – 2012
- Works listed
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Jack Tramiel was a Polish-born American businessman and Auschwitz survivor who founded Commodore, which made typewriters and calculators and then the PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64. The C64 became the best-selling single computer model ever. He later took over Atari. He died in 2012.
Biography
Survival
Tramiel was born in Łódź and sent with his family to Auschwitz. He survived a labour camp and was liberated in 1945.
Commodore
Emigrating to the US, he learned typewriter repair in the army and founded Commodore Business Machines in Toronto in 1954, later moving into calculators.
Computers
Buying MOS Technology gave Commodore the 6502 chip. The PET (1977), VIC-20 (1981) and Commodore 64 (1982) followed; the C64 sold an estimated 12–17 million units. His motto was “computers for the masses, not the classes”.
Atari
He left Commodore in 1984 and bought Atari’s computer division, launching the Atari ST. He retired in 1996 and helped found the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Timeline
-
1928
Born in Łódź, Poland
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1945
Liberated
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1954
Founds Commodore
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1976
Buys MOS Technology
-
1977
Commodore PET
-
1982
Commodore 64
-
1984
Leaves Commodore; buys Atari
-
2012
Dies
-
2012
Died, aged 83
Did you know?
-
1
He said “Business is war”.
-
2
The C64 cost $595 at launch and kept falling.
-
3
He was a founding donor of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Connections
Related people
Also born on 13 December
Frequently asked
Who is Jack Tramiel?
Jack Tramiel was a Polish-born American businessman and Auschwitz survivor who founded Commodore, which made typewriters and calculators and then the PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64. The C64 became the best-selling single computer model ever. He later took over Atari. He died in 2012.
When did Jack Tramiel die?
Jack Tramiel died on 8 April 2012 at the age of 83.
Where is Jack Tramiel from?
Jack Tramiel was born in Łódź, Poland.
What is Jack Tramiel known for?
Jack Tramiel is best known for Founding Commodore; PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64; buying Atari (1984).
References
- Jack Tramiel — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Jack Tramiel — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Jack Tramiel (Q380363) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Jack Tramiel”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Jack Tramiel.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/jack-tramiel
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