LeapFrog Enterprises
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| LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. | |
| Type | Public (NYSE: LF) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Emeryville, California, USA |
| Industry | Technology and learning |
| Website | www.leapfrog.com |
LeapFrog Enterprises Inc NYSE: LF is an educational toy company based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog is best known for its LeapPad, a paper-based electronic reading toy.
The company was founded in 1995 by Michael Wood, a Stanford University graduate, when he found no products on the market that could help his struggling son learn to read.
On Thursday, July 25, 2002, LeapFrog floated on the New York Stock Exchange where it currently trades under the symbol LF.
A scandal erupted in the fall of 2004 when Prince George's County, Maryland, School Chief Andre Hornsby purchased $1 million in educational software for the County's schools from LeapFrog saleswoman Sienna Owens, who was living with Hornsby; Hornsby did not report to the school system that Owens, who was a saleswoman covering Virginia for LeapFrog SchoolHouse, was his girlfriend. Bob Lally, president of LeapFrog SchoolHouse, resigned as a result of the scandal. Amid an FBI investigation into the scandal, Hornsby resigned on May 27, 2005; his resignation became effective on June 30. On August 22, 2006, a federal grand jury indicted Hornsby on charges of steering school business to associates in exchange for kickbacks that were intended to exceed $100,000.
LeapFrog's 2004 revenue was $640 million, down from $680 million in 2003. The company made a small loss in 2004 to end a pattern of rapidly rising profits. It attributed this to disappointing sales in the United States.
In October 2005 LeapFrog introduced the Fly (pentop computer).
