Wii Makes Hiroshi Yamauchi Japan's Richest Man

May. 13 10:11 AM by Lynxara

Before Satoru Iwata, it was Hiroshi Yamauchi that presided over Nintendo as president of the company, building it from a toy manufacturer into the console juggernaut we know today. Even after stepping down, Yamauchi retained some interest in Nintendo, holding roughly 10% of the company.

That 10% interest was enough for Forbes Magazine to declare him this year's richest man in Japan. You'll note Forbes doesn't come out and credit Yamauchi's newfound 7.8 billion net worth to the skyrocketing value of Nintendo's stock price (that this blog has covered exhaustively), but Yahoo! News was willing to do the math.

Shares of Kyoto-based Nintendo have more than tripled in the past two years, boosting the value of the company to around $79 billion, and the fortune of Yamauchi, who owns 10 percent.

Yamauchi also owns the Seattle Mariners, which I'm sure is why the Marines are the first (and possibly only) team to support the Nintendo Fan Connection.