with the learning channel . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . the specific problem is possibly excessive information about business ownership compared to other information please help improve this article if you can . october 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message the learning company the company logo used from 2007 to 2012 type subsidiary founded 1980 headquarters boston massachusetts united states key people warren robinett co founder parent houghton mifflin harcourt website www.learningcompany.com the learning company tlc is an american educational software company currently owned by houghton mifflin harcourt . it produced a grade based system of learning software and tools to improve productivity . products for preschoolers through second graders include reader rabbit and software for more advanced students include the cluefinders . the company is also known for publishing licensed educational titles featuring characters such as arthur read scooby doo and caillou . contents 1 founding and ownership 1.1 early struggles and successful transition period 1.2 softkey acquisition 1.3 mattel acquisition and rapid devaluation 2 software 2.1 reader rabbit the cluefinders series 2.2 zoombinis 2.3 super solvers series 2.3.1 super seekers games 2.4 carmen sandiego series 2.5 other games 3 references 4 external links founding and ownership edit the original tlc was founded in 1980 by ann mccormick leslie grimm and teri perl three phd educators who along with warren robinett a former atari employee who had programmed the popular game adventure saw the apple ii as an opportunity to enhance the ability to teach young children concepts of math reading science problem solving and thinking skills . part of the original funding for the company came from a national science foundation grant . additional funding was provided by jack melchor and melchor venture partners among others . tlc was among the four companies ibm contacted to produce launch titles for the pcjr announced in late 1983 . 1 from 1980 through 1984 it created a line of 15 widely acclaimed children s educational software products which were sold through the newly evolving u.s. retail and school computer software channels . early struggles and successful transition period edit during the first four years the founding board of directors hired and replaced four ceos as the company incurred significant losses attempting to develop a sustainable business . in the first half of the 1985 fiscal year the board hired as ceo bill dinsmore a former mckinsey & company consultant with a 15 year track record turning around and building high quality consumer product lines . in the second half of 1985 the product line was consolidated from 15 products down to 5 products . additionally an improved and focused new product development process was instituted to identify subjects that parents and teachers named as highest priority for children ages 3 14 . in late fy 1986 mr. duca was elected chairman of the board and for the next decade he devoted a significant amount of his time to tlc focusing particularly on the business model and strategy . igsb became the learning company s largest shareholder . with mr. dinsmore as ceo from 1985 to 1995 tlc s revenues increased from 2.4 m to 53.2 m and profitability increased from break even in fy 1985 to a 20 % pre tax margin and 10.6 m in pre tax earnings . the leading families of products were the reader rabbit series for ages 2 8 the treasure mountain reading math science series for ages 5 9 the super solver series for ages 7 12 the student writing & publishing center for ages 7 adult and the foreign language learning series for ages 15 adult . tlc went public on april 28 1992 in an ipo led by morgan stanley and robertson stephens & co. from 1992 to 1995 tlc achieved 16 consecutive quarters of revenues and profits growth never experiencing a down quarter or year . tlc s early struggles followed by 10 consecutive years of outstanding performance were the subject of case studies at both harvard and stanford universities . softkey acquisition edit in 1995 tlc was acquired in an unsolicited transaction by softkey for 606m all cash . subsequent to the acquisition tlc was reformed from the merger of wordstar spinnaker and softkey software and was relocated from san francisco and toronto to cambridge ma . prior to that softkey was a canadian company that was founded by kevin o leary and traded on the toronto stock exchange . during the years following the three way merger the combined company was led by michael j. perik as ceo kevin o leary as president and r. scott murray as cfo . the trio led the combination of many leading brands through acquisitions of such companies as broderbund mecc mindscape and creative wonders . the company held some of the best known educational entertainment and home productivity brands in the market . these included reader rabbit carmen sandiego the oregon trail myst riven the print shop and printmaster . the team led the sale of software in well known retail chains such as best buy office depot staples and wal mart in direct mail channels across europe and in the oem channels as well as creating one of the first online imaging models in the market . in 1996 softkey changed its name to the learning company . mattel acquisition and rapid devaluation edit in the fall of 1998 mattel agreed to acquire the learning company in a stock for stock merger valuing the company at approximately 4.2 billion . in 1999 the company name was changed to mattel interactive which published not only educational games but licensed titles from brands like barbie . 2 mattel sold the learning company in 2000 at a loss to gores technology group . the total financial losses to mattel have been estimated to be as high as 3.6 billion . 3 mattel s acquisition of the learning company has been referred to as one of the worst acquisitions of all time by several prominent business journals . 3 4 software edit alternate tlc logo used from the mid 1990s until 2007 reader rabbit the cluefinders series edit grade based titles reader rabbit baby reader rabbit toddler reader rabbit preschool reader rabbit preschool sparkle star rescue reader rabbit kindergarten reader rabbit 1st grade reader rabbit 2nd grade now sold as reader rabbit 2nd grade classic reader rabbit 2nd grade mis cheese ious dreamship adventures the cluefinders 3rd grade adventures 1998 the cluefinders 4th grade adventures 1998 the cluefinders 5th grade adventures 1999 the cluefinders 6th grade adventures 1999 other titles writer rabbit 1987 reader rabbit 1 1989 reader rabbit 2 1990 reader rabbit 3 1991 reader rabbit s reading journey 1993 math rabbit later changed to reader rabbit math the cluefinders math adventures 1999 the cluefinders reading adventures 1999 the cluefinders search and solve adventures 2000 the cluefinders the incredible toy store adventure 2001 the cluefinders mystery mansion arcade caillou magic playhouse spongebob squarepants typing some pbs kids games zoombinis edit zoombinis logical journey 1996 note this game was remade in 2015 . zoombinis mountain rescue 2001 zoombinis island odyssey 2002 super solvers series edit midnight rescue later re released as super solvers reading and then leap ahead 3rd grade outnumbered later re released as leap ahead 3rd grade challenge of the ancient empires ancient empires spellbound later re released as leap ahead spelling gizmos & gadgets mission t.h.i.n.k. super seekers games edit treasure mountain 1990 note this game was originally released as a regular super solvers title . treasure mathstorm 1992 treasure cove 1994 treasure galaxy 1994 carmen sandiego series edit carmen sandiego s thinkquick challenge 1999 where in the world is carmen sandiego treasures of knowledge 2001 note when the learning company purchased br derbund software they gained the rights to the carmen sandiego series . only the carmen sandiego games created by the learning company are included here . note that some original br derbund games are now sold under the learning company name . other games edit prince of persia 3d 1999 real world series operation neptune 1991 note this game was eventually added to the super solvers series . time riders in american history math for the real world adventure puzzle games rocky s boots 1982 gertrude s secrets 1984 gertrude s puzzles robot odyssey 1984 think quick logic quest 3d 1996 road adventures usa trail games oregon trail amazon trail yukon trail africa trail mayaquest tools and other programs all star typing the american girls premiere read write and type metrognomes music the children s writing & publishing center the writing center student writing center other early educational programs magic spells bumble games bumble plot moptown hotel moptown parade wordspinner juggles rainbow juggles house starflyers series starflyers royal jewel rescue starflyers alien space chase references edit wiswell phil january 24 1984 . coming soon games for the pcjr . pc . pp. 142 145 . retrieved january 26 2015 . profile mattel interactive . ign games newsletter . retrieved 2 september 2014 . a b cave andrew september 30 2000 . mattel sale ends 3.6 bn fiasco . the daily telegraph . london . retrieved october 11 2015 . rosenbush steve october 4 2007 . when big deals go bad and why . bloomberg . retrieved october 11 2015 . external links edit official website the learning company at mobygames v t e carmen sandiego carmen sandiego character list of franchise characters games where in the world 1985 where in the u.s.a. 1986 where in europe where in north dakota where in time where in america s past where in the world deluxe where in the u.s.a. deluxe where in space junior detective where in the u.s.a. 1996 where in the world 1996 great chase through time word detective math detective thinkquick challenge where in the world treasures of knowledge secret of the stolen drums where in the world 3 new carmen adventure where in the world 2011 adventures in math the lady liberty larceny the big ben burglary the case of the crumbling cathedral the great gateway grab the island of diamonds returns television and other media where in the world game show where in time game show where on earth animation where in the universe planetarium show where in the world of music concert series albums where in the world is carmen sandiego out of this world category v t e houghton mifflin harcourt cliffsnotes great source harcourt school supply heinemann us holt mcdougal rigby us riverside saxon steck vaughn houghton mifflin harcourt learning technology the learning company broderbund edmark retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the learning company & oldid 743699122 categories companies based in san franciscocompanies based in iowacompanies established in 1980educational software companiesvideo game companies of the united statesvideo game development companiesvideo game publisherstechnology companies disestablished in 1998the learning company gameshidden categories articles needing cleanup from october 2015all articles needing cleanupcleanup tagged articles with a reason field from october 2015wikipedia pages needing cleanup from october 2015articles needing additional references from december 2014all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran ais portugu s edit links this page was last modified on 10 october