Walter Forbes built CUC International from Comp-U-Card, a phone-in discount shopping club that cut out the middleman with a small markup and annual fee, not unlike a proto-Amazon Prime. As computer networks like CompuServe, Prodigy, and GEnie rose, CUC pivoted online and Forbes set his sights on the games business, joining the Sierra On-Line board and buying out Ken Williams and Davidson and Associates for a combined 1.7 billion dollars in stock swaps. Despite promises to Williams that he would not be secondary to a competitor, Bob Davidson, of Davidson and Associates, ended up running the software division until he discovered something troubling enough to dump his stock and leave. The cracks were beginning to show. Williams tried to take over, was not given the time of day, and eventually left. Forbes meanwhile pursued a merger with Henry Silverman's HFS, a hospitality giant owning Days Inn, Ramada, Howard Johnson, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and Avis, forming the new conglomerate Cendant. The true depth of the shenanigans were only starting to show. How could a company consistently just barely beat analyst/market estimates?

Comp-U-Card News Brief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6H5mdSHyNQ
Credit Card Impression Machines: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S5c2mA1cnv4
New Innovations in Credit Cards (1985): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TBD8HTssRA
The Simpsons - The Truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nc88_ZEfxg
TCW 039 - On-Line Systems: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW039-on-line-systems
TCW 040 - Sierra On-Line: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW040-sierra-on-line
Word Attack (PC-DOS 1983): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJf13H9Wbnk
Math Blaster (PC-DOS 1983): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKi_g0g8EWQ
TCW 162 - Spinnaker Software: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW162-spinnaker-software
TCW 054 - Blizzard: Vikings and Warcraft: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW054-blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft
TCW 071 - A story of Brøderbund!: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW071-a-story-of-broderbund
TCW 072 - The MYSTeries of Brøderbund! - : https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW072-the-mysteries-of-broderbund

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's book: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/