 By 1996 the price of the CD-ROM had dropped to $200, and sales had dropped to $325 million—about half of their 1990 levels.Only 55,000 hard copy versions were sold in 1994, compared with 117,000 in 1990, and sales later fell to 20,000.Facing financial pressure, Britannica was bought in 1996 by Swiss financier Jacob Safra for $135 million, a fraction of its book value.