Hiroshi Yamauchi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
The great-grandson of founder Fusajiro Yamauchi, he took over the family business at 22 while a student at Waseda University, after his grandfather Sekiryo Yamauchi, the second President, died suddenly at 66 in 1949. He joined Nintendo in December of that year. The family business was a cottage industry in Kyoto making hanafuda and playing cards by hand, with mechanization not yet under way. He had strong backing in ownership, remaining the largest shareholder with 10.0% held personally even in the fiscal year ended March 2010, after stepping down as President.
Selection
A 22-year-old student took over a family business that had only just been incorporated as Marufuku Co., Ltd. in November 1947. After taking office he first put the corporate structure in order, renaming the company Marufuku Karuta Hanbai in September 1949 and Nintendo Karuta Co., Ltd. in March 1950, taking over card manufacturing, including the Daitoryo brand, from the general partnership Yamauchi Nintendo. In July 1951 he renamed it Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. He later described his feelings at the time as "inexplicably angry," and the succession appears to have come about because the family lacked any other heir.
Initiatives
In January 1962 the company listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Securities Exchange and on the Kyoto Stock Exchange, and around 1963 its domestic share of playing cards reached about 80%. Diversification into taxis, food and baby carriages all failed, and the company narrowed its focus to entertainment alone. In July 1983 it launched the Family Computer, priced at ¥14,800 for the console, switching to a model that earned money from separately sold software. In June 1996 it released the NINTENDO64, and in May 2002 he installed Satoru Iwata as his successor, the first from outside the founding family.
Career
Career
Nintendo
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Dec 1949 | Joined as President |
| May 2002 | Director, Senior Advisor |
| May 2002 | Stepped down as President |