Scott D. Oki (born October 5, 1948, in Seattle, Washington) is a former senior vice-president of sales and marketing for Microsoft who conceived and built Microsoft's international operations. Oki also played a crucial role in Microsoft's rapid domestic growth during the 1980s. Early life Oki was a third generation Japanese-American raised by a family that some sources described as very traditional in outlook. Oki's father was a postal worker while his mother worked as a secretary and the family often struggled financially so they had to work tying fish flies to gain additional income. Oki graduated from Seattle's Franklin High School. He then attended the University of Washington but left after 18 months to join the U.S. Air Force. While in the service he took courses at the University of Colorado. After he left the service in 1974, he went on to receive a BA in accounting and information systems and earned an MBA the following year. After holding several computer-related jobs (including a stint at Hewlett-Packard), Oki went to work for Microsoft in 1982. During this time, the company only had 200 employees. Work at Microsoft When Oki joined Microsoft, he was said to have projected that the international market would represent 50 percent of Microsoft business and he immediately turned it to reality. Oki steadily built Microsoft's international operations, and within two years it was more profitable than Microsoft's domestic operation. International sales exceeded half of the company's revenue. Bill Gates then made him vice president of domestic operation, and within five years, the company's sales rose from $100 million to $1 billion. One of Oki's major contributions to Microsoft's success during that time was convincing Bill Gates and the board of directors to center product development and marketing efforts on Windows instead of OS/2. By the time he retired Oki was overseeing 3,000 employees. Later, he would describe his work at the company with these words: "Microsoft demanded a maniacal work focus: If you were awake, you were expected to be thinking about Microsoft." Post-retirement activities When Oki retired in 1992, he reportedly cashed in stock options estimated at $100 million. Instead of retiring full-time, however, Oki spends most of his time working with charities and organizations that he care about. He now runs the non-profit Oki Foundation, owns several golf courses, and serves on dozens of advisory boards and boards of directors for both for-profit and