Former type Software Company Headquarters United States Founded 1984 | Defunct 1997 Founder Robert Stein Ceased operations 1997 | |
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Products LaserDiscs, Interactive CD-ROM, The Criterion Collection Successor The Criterion Collection Inc | ||
The Voyager Company was a pioneer in CD-ROM production in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company published The Criterion Collection, a pioneering home video collection of classic and important contemporary films on Laserdisc. It was founded in 1984 by four partners: Jon Turell, Bill Becker, Aleen Stein and Robert Stein in Santa Monica, California, and later moved to New York City. The firm took its name from the Voyager space craft.
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In 1994, the partnership was diluted by selling 20% of it to the von Holzbrinck Publishing Group, a German holding company. In 1997, the Holzbrinck Group withdrew with its 20%, the name "Voyager," and half of the CD-ROM rights. Robert Stein took the other half of the CD-ROM rights and the Toolkit rights. This left the Criterion Collection in the possession of three of the original partners: Aleen Stein (1/3), the Becker family (1/3), and the Turell family (1/3).