Hiroshi Yamauchi , who built Nintendo from a small playing-card company into a global video-gaming empire before buying the Seattle Mariners , died Thursday in Japan . He was 85 . Yamauchi took over the company from his ailing grandfather as a university student in 1949 and ran it until 2002 -- a remarkable span of 53 years . He guided Nintendo from its pre-electronic days as a maker of children 's games through its emergence as the creator of hugely popular video-gaming platforms such as the Nintendo Entertainment System , the Game Boy , hit games such as `` Donkey Kong , '' and iconic characters such as Mario , the mustachioed Italian plumber . Nintendo confirmed the news Thursday in an e-mailed statement to media outlets . The company said Yamauchi died of pneumonia at a hospital in central Japan . `` The entire Nintendo group will carry on the spirit of Mr. Yamauchi by honoring , in our approach to entertainment , the sense of value he has taught us -- that there is merit in doing what is different -- and at the same time , by changing Nintendo in accordance with changing times , '' said current Nintendo President Satoru Iwata in a statement sent to CNN . Forbes in April estimated Yamauchi 's net worth at $ 2.1 billion , placing him 831st on its list of the world 's richest billionaires . After Yamauchi stepped down Nintendo had another blockbuster hit with its Wii motion-control gaming system , although the company 's recent product launches have not fared so well . Although not a baseball fan , Yamauchi bought a majority stake in the Seattle Mariners in 1992 to help keep the team in the Pacific Northwest when it looked like it might be relocated to Florida . He famously never saw the Mariners play live . People we lost in 2013 .
Hiroshi Yamauchi built Nintendo from a playing - card company into a video - gaming empire . He created such successes as the Game Boy , ` ` Donkey Kong '' and iconic characters such as Mario . Yamauchi died Thursday in 2015 at age 84 .