Funding the industry’s first video games

How the company’s funding of Silicon Valley enterprises helped start the video game industry.

Featured photo caption: Wells Fargo’s San Francisco History Museum features an Atari “Pong®” game for the home.

In the 1970s, groundbreaking desktop and personal computers were hitting the market, the PC modem was invented, and the year’s top movies featured special effects marvels. The technology industry was hot and was starting to resemble “tech” as we understand it today — featuring advanced capabilities and household devices that were available for everyday use.

At that time, Atari was already a success. Started in 1972 by wunderkind Nolan Bushnell, the company introduced the home version of their popular video game “Pong®.” Getting capital was a challenge for many in the blossoming tech industry, but Wells Fargo recognized the potential — and Atari’s sound management — and established a Special Industries group to provide business advice and financing to Silicon Valley companies.

A man with dark hair and thick mustache wearing a stripped collared shirt with dark tie and pens resting in shirt pocket sits at a table with computer motherboard components. — Atari founder Nolan Bushnell in a 1977 feature for *Wells Fargo Banker*.

Two men in suits, one without a coat, stand in a room full of arcade games. — Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and J. Kerrins, from Wells Fargo’s Special Industries group, surrounded by Atari video games in 1977.

A line of credit from Wells Fargo financed production of early Atari products, and cartridges of “Pong” flew off retail shelves, creating the first video gaming sensation.

Atari was ready, in 1973, to expand its reach with a variety of arcade games, but needed increased capital to fund the growth. Wells Fargo continued to provide financial assistance, and Atari developed more than 30 video games by the middle of the year, including “Canyon Bomber®,” “Destroyer,” “Subs,” “Triple Hunt,” and multiplayer versions of “Sprint.”

“I owe a debt of gratitude to Wells Fargo for helping us get started,” Bushnell said in a 1977 feature for Wells Fargo Banker, the company’s periodical at the time. “I’ve been focused on those things I’ve wanted to do. Money has been the vehicle that has allowed me to do them.”

Innovation has motivated Wells Fargo’s business since 1852. From the iconic stagecoach, to paving the way with early use of the telegraph and ATM, to the current advancements in mobile banking, the company continues to have an eye for cutting-edge technology.