Satoru Iwata

Japanese video game programmer and businessman (1959–2015)

Fame61.2
Momentum27.2
Japan rank#210

Source-basedBreakout

Fame61.2
Momentum27.2
Japan rank#210
Founders rank#106
Wikipedia40.5K

Lived 1959–2015, aged 56Japan

Japan FoundersFounder

Wikipedia
42 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Japan
#210
Founders
Era
1959–2015
Aged 56
Known for
Kirby: Fright to the F…
2005

Summary

Updated 2026-06-13

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer and producer. Beginning in 2002, Iwata served as the fourth president of Nintendo, as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo of America from 2013 until his death in 2015. Iwata was a major contributor in broadening the appeal of video games by focusing on novel and entertaining games rather than top-of-the-line hardware.