Hiroshi Yamauchi

Hiroshi Yamauchi was the third president of the world’s leading video game maker, Nintendo. He was appointed president of the company in 1949 at the age of 22. He stepped down from his position on May 2002 and was succeeded by Nintendo’s Corporate Planning Division head Satoru Iwata. In Forbes magazine’s 2009 list of Japan’s 40 Richest, Yamauchi hit the third spot with a net worth of US$4.5 billion.

Hiroshi Yamauchi

As the youngest president of Nintendo, Yamauchi is noted for his notorious imperialistic management style. The early years of his leadership were marked by significant changes within the company, including the firing of long-time employees who questioned his authority, the diversification of the company’s portfolio and the renaming of the company from Nintendo Playing Card Company Limited into Nintendo Company. One of Yamauchi’s greatest leadership achievements as president was the transformation of Nintendo from being a small card-making company into a multi-billion-dollar video game maker. Realising the technological breakthrough in the electronic industry, Yamauchi secured a license to sell the Magnavox game console in 1974, then started the production of Nintendo’s own video game in 1977. From then on, the company expanded, introduced new games and innovated products. It gained a reputation of being the most influential company in the video game industry under Yamauchi’s leadership.