Hiroshi Yamauchi

Hiroshi Yamauchi
山内溥
3rd President of Nintendo
In office
25 April 1949 – 24 May 2002
Preceded bySekiryo Kaneda
Succeeded bySatoru Iwata
Personal details
Born(1927-11-07)7 November 1927
Kyoto, Empire of Japan
Died19 September 2013(2013-09-19) (aged 85)
Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Cause of deathPneumonia
Spouse
Michiko Inaba
​
​
(m. 1945; died 2012)​
[1][2]
Children3
Alma materWaseda University
OccupationPresident and chairman of Nintendo (1949–2002)

Hiroshi Yamauchi (山内溥, Yamauchi Hiroshi, 7 November 1927 – 19 September 2013) was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo, joining the company on 25 April 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being succeeded by Satoru Iwata. During his 53-year tenure, Yamauchi transformed Nintendo from a hanafuda card-making company that had been active solely in Japan into a multibillion-dollar video game publisher and global conglomerate. He was the great-grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo's first president and founder. Hiroshi Yamauchi owned the Seattle Mariners baseball team from 1992 until his death.[3][4][5]

In April 2013, Forbes estimated Yamauchi's net worth at $2.1 billion; he was the 13th richest person in Japan and the 491st richest in the world.[6] In 2008, Yamauchi was Japan's wealthiest person with a fortune at that time estimated at $7.8 billion.[7] At the time of his death, Yamauchi was the largest shareholder at Nintendo.[8][9]

  1. ^ Femmel, Kevin (1 August 2012). "Michiko Inaba, wife of former Nintendo President passes away at 82". Gimme Gimme Games. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  2. ^ Thiel, Art (14 August 2012). "Wife of Mariners owner Yamauchi dies". Sportspress Northwest. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ^ "That Time When… Nintendo bought a baseball team". VGC. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Hiroshi Yamauchi: The Mystery Man Who Saved Baseball in Seattle". KNKX Public Radio. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Hiroshi Yamauchi, Mariners owner, dies at 85". MLB.com. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Hiroshi Yamauchi at Forbes.com". March 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  7. ^ Nobuhiro Kubo; Edmund Klamann; Robert Birsel (19 September 2013). "Nintendo video game pioneer Hiroshi Yamauchi dies at 85". Reuters. Retrieved 21 September 2013. Yamauchi was listed by Forbes magazine as Japan's richest man just five years ago, when Nintendo was flying high with the launch of the Wii with its motion-sensing controller, although the company's fortunes have since faded as smartphones displace consoles among gamers. His net worth at that time was estimated at $7.8 billion.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC_death was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Status of Shares". Nintendo Co., Ltd. 31 March 2013. Retrieved on 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2024.