Tryon "Tarrnie" M. Williams (born November 11, 1940) is a Canadian businessman. He is the founder of Canada's first publicly traded software company,

Sydney Development Corporation Sydney Development Corporation ("SDC"), was the first publicly-traded software company in Canada. Founded by Tarrnie Williams, SDC developed an online real-time project management system for the IBM System z mainframe computer, then various dif ...

formed in 1978. From 1987 to 1991 he was President and CEO of Distinctive Software Inc. of Vancouver. After the acquisition of that company by

Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted ...

, he became President and CEO of Electronic Arts (Canada) Inc.

Biography

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, he traveled to western Canada early in life. He obtained a B.Sc (Mathematics) in 1963 from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

after studying mechanical engineering for three years at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in Québec. After university he worked as an actuarial student for Standard Life Insurance Corporation in Montréal, followed by two years in sales in the mutual fund industry. In 1965, Williams joined the Canadian Corporation for the World Exposition (

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

) as a Project Manager responsible for multiple projects in the field of communications and computers. He then moved to Vancouver and joined

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

where he worked for 10 years initially in systems design, then sales, then management education and finally in various management roles. Williams resigned from IBM in 1978 to found Canada's first public software company,

(SDC), The company developed an online real-time project management system for mainframe computers, then business applications for minicomputers. It became the first developer and publisher of computer games for microcomputers in Canada. SDC was the fastest-growing public company in Canada in the five-year period 1978 to 1983 with fiscal year 1983 revenues of $21 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Williams left SDC, at the beginning of the biotech industry, to co-found Proteus Bio-Research Corporation. The company developed a monoclonal antibody to identify the

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

virus. Proteus joined with Murex, founded by Gwynn R. Williams, to form International Murex, which was sold to

Abbot Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, in the United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate k ...

for $234 million. After joining International Murex, in 1987 he returned to

Distinctive Software Distinctive Software, Inc. was a Canadian video game developer established in Burnaby, British Columbia, by Don Mattrick and Jeff Sember after their success with the game ''Evolution''. Mattrick (age 17) and Jeff Sember approached Sydney Devel ...

, a spin-off from SDC, as president. Williams was instrumental in growing Distinctive with

Don Mattrick Donald Allan Mattrick (born February 13, 1964) is a Canadian businessman who co-founded Distinctive Software (DSI) in 1982 in Vancouver at age 17, while graduating from high school and attending Simon Fraser University where he studied busi ...

and Paul Lee, before it was bought by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

for $11 million in 1991 (equivalent to $ million in ), and then helping Electronic Arts (Canada) develop into a 125-person organization with a management team that reported revenue of $31 million (Canadian) in fiscal year 1993. He was the president and CEO of EA (Canada) Ltd. and a member of the seven-man executive team of Electronic Arts in California. In 1993 he was diagnosed with secondary progressive

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and left Electronic Arts to concentrate on his health. During the ten-year period he became an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia,

Sauder School of Business Sauder is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Erie J. Sauder (1904–1997), American inventor and furniture-maker ** Sauder Woodworking Company * Lloyd Sauder (born 1950), Canadian politician * Luke Sauder (born 1970), Canadia ...

as well as mentoring over 25 small businesses in various technologies and life-sciences. He was a founding director of YM BioSciences, which was sold to

Gilead Sciences Gilead Sciences, Inc. () is an American biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Foster City, California, that focuses on researching and developing antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, and CO ...

in 2013 for $540 million. YM BioSciences commercialized bioscience technology in Cuba and made significant research breakthroughs in

Myelofibrosis Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a rare bone marrow blood cancer. It is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a type of myeloproliferative neoplasm, a group of cancers in which there is activation and growth of mutated cells in ...

, a rare bone marrow cancer (See Momelotinib and Nimotuzumab). While in Cuba, Williams was recommended to seek the services of the International Center of Neurologic Restoration (CIREN), where doctors re-channeled the neuropathways with repetitive physiotherapy to overcome his partial paralysis. Williams returned to Cuba for one month every year for over ten years and was able to continue his career. He co-founded InMedia Corporation, developing digital photography software for digital cameras. This company which became PNI Digital Media and sold to

Staples Inc. Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. Founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, the company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986. By 1996, it had r ...

for $74 million. In 2001 Williams rescued Bingo.com from potential bankruptcy and became its president and CEO until 2011 and then its Executive Chairman. Effective December 31, 2014 Unibet Group Plc. purchased Bingo.com Ltd.'s www.bingo.com domain name and its online gambling business for $8 million. The company was renamed Shoal Games and was listed on the Toronto Venture Stock Exchange. In March 2019, Shoal Games purchased Kidoz Ltd., an Ad-Tech company resident in Tel Aviv, Israel for $20 million in shares and renamed Shoal Games Ltd. to Kidoz Inc. Kidoz Inc. continues to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange. Mr. Williams continues with the company as the Executive Chairman.

Awards and memberships

Mr. Williams is a recipient of the

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

DigiBC Lifetime Achievement award for his contributions in pioneering the

video game industry The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...

in Canada. In 1982, Mr. Williams’ company Sydney Development Corp. published "Evolution" the first multi-level computer game, which was created by two teenagers,

and Jeff Sembers as well as publishing several other video games, including other worldwide hits, Quest for Tires and Damn Busters thereby putting the Canadian video game industry on the map and earning him the title, the "Godfather" of BC's gaming industry. In his acceptance speech, Williams gave advice to all the ambitious entrepreneurs – "To be successful, keep at it and believe in yourself". Mr. Williams was featured in ''Knights of the New Technology: The Inside Story of Canada's Computer Elite'', authored by David Thomas and published by Key Porter Books 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Tarrnie 1940 births Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian chief executives Canadian entertainment industry businesspeople Living people University of Alberta alumni McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni IBM employees Electronic Arts employees Expo 67 Canadian video game businesspeople