Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s CEO since taking over for former president Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002, died on Saturday. He was 55 years old. According to the company, Iwata passed away due to complications from “a bile duct growth.” He’d recently taken some time off for medical reasons, resulting in surgery to remove a tumorous growth.
Iwata, a former programmer and game developer, helped Nintendo achieve massive success with the Wii and DS consoles during the past decade. He was also behind the less successful Wii U, but that never stopped Iwata from attempting to improve the company’s developments and image. When sales of the Wii U faltered significantly, he halved his own salary to help cut costs.
(Via The Verge)