Alan Sugar founded Amstrad before he became a Dragon on the British show Dragons' Den.
Sugar founded Amstrad in 1968, naming the company from his initials, Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It began as an importer and seller of electronic goods before moving into products such as hi-fi equipment, satellite television hardware and personal computers.
Amstrad became especially well known in Britain for affordable home computers. Its CPC range, launched in the 1980s, competed in the expanding home-computing market and helped make Sugar a nationally recognised entrepreneur. The company later entered the satellite set-top-box business.
Sugar joined Dragons' Den in 2012 and became one of its most recognisable investors. Amstrad is sometimes confused with Sinclair Research or Commodore because all three were prominent names in the British home-computer era, but Amstrad was Sugar's own company and the source of his business reputation.