Name: James Morgan
birth/death: 1942-
Occupation: Currently retired
Bio summary/Early life: Born 1942 in New Jersey, Morgan later attends Princeton University. Graduates cum laude in American history in 1963 and that same year goes to work for the marketing department of Philip Morris. He worked his way up through advertising and marketing, where he had some of the company's major brands under his direct control (Marlboro, Virginia Slims). He worked for Morris until the early 1980's when in 1983 he became CEO of the Atari Corporation. He served for one year before the company changed hands. Morgan then went back to the tobacco industry, where he worked for Philip Morris until 1997 when he retired.
Education: American History degree from Princeton
Career Outline: In 1963 After Princeton Morgan went to work for Philip Morris. He worked up the ranks to brand manager of Marlboro, a position he held from 1972-73. From here has was promoted to Assistant Director of Tobacco Brand Management, and made a name for himself by helping to develop the Marlboro Man campaign. He served as a member of the Tobacco Institute Communications Committee in the early 80's (the "organization" which testifies lobbies congress). Morgan took over as CEO of Atari in July (although he did not officially take over until September) of 1983, and served until July of 1984 when Jack Tramiel bought the company. After Atari Morgan went back to Philip Morris where in 1994 he was appointed president and CEO, a position he held until his retirement on November 1, 1997(Sourcewatch.org).
Impact on gaming: Morgan's Impact on gaming came from his management of Atari, a company which he almost entirely restructured and ruined. Although he only managed the company for a single year, instead of helping to clean up the mess his predecessor had made, Morgan made things worse. He cut jobs and salaries, scared away top programmers and left the company in a state where it had to be sold.
After being instituted as CEO, in July of 1983, Morgan merged the distributions/sales department of Atari with the manufacturing wing so that jobs could be cut and money saved. He also put a thirty-day hold on product development and introduction. This hold resulted in the cancellation of the 1400xl and 1400xld and prevented Atari from producing sufficient numbers of the 600xl and 800xl in time for Christmas of that year. Monetary losses and budget shortfalls prompted the sale of the company on June 30, 1984. He only served as CEO for one year yet under Morgan, who can be quoted as promising an end to vapor-ware, in the month of May 1984 alone Atari announced the following products and games which it would never release;
1450xld, 1090 expansion system, MindLink hardware device, Jr. Pac-Man, Peek-A-Boo, Hobgoblin, This Is Ground Control, Through the Starbridge, Find It!, Elevator Action, Yaacov Agam's Interactive Painting, The ABC of CPR: First Aid, Wheeler-Dealer, Simulated Computer, Telly Turtle, Word Tutor, Letter Tutor, Gremlins, Pole Position II (Faqs.org)
Personality: His background in the Tobacco industry made him a slippery character. The best examples available of his character are listed below as Anecdotes.
Anecdotes: In an interview with James Capparell Antic in late 1983 James Morgan can be quoted as saying "Atari has decided as a matter of policy that we will not show new products anywhere unless we can ship them almost immediately. This industry, including Atari, has shown products in the past and then delayed shipments or cancelled the products altogether. That operating style does not build credibility with retailers, with customers, or with the media, so Atari won't have any part of it". A promise which he would later break, repeatedly.
James Morgan said in a 1997 sworn courtroom testimony that tobacco is no more addictive than Gummy Bears candy. Asked by attorney Stanley Rosenblatt if he believes nicotine is addictive, Morgan responded, Pharmacologically, my answer is no. If they are behaviorally addictive or habit forming, they are much more like caffeine, or in my case, Gummy Bears. I love Gummy Bears...and I want Gummy Bears, and I like Gummy Bears, and I eat Gummy Bears, and I don't like it when I don't eat my Gummy Bears, but I'm certainly not addicted to them (sourcewatch.org).
Gameography: Being that Morgan is admittedly not a game player, and only served as CEO of Atari he did not receive any slots on the credit roles for any video games produced by the company.
Related Links:
http://www.atarimagazines.com/
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/section-93.html
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_J._Morgan
http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n12/profiles.html
http://www.electric-escape.net/node/848
Bibliographic References:
Antic, James C. "EXCLUSIVE ANTIC INTERVIEW, James J. Morgan, Atari Chairman/CEO." Atari Magazine Nov. 1983.
Current, Michael. "What is the history of Atari's 8-bit computers platform?" Faqs.org. June 2003. Oct. 2008 .
"James J. Morgan." Sourcewatch.org. Feb. 2004. Oct. 2008 .
Paully, David, and Micheal Rogers. "A Tough Man for A tough Job." Newsweek Magazine 16 July 1984. .
Contributors to this listing: Joshua Bloch