Nintendo has just announced sad news – President and CEO, Satoru Iwata, died on Saturday, July 11, following a long battle with his health.
Iwata was 55, and the cause of death as released by Nintendo was stated as “bile duct growth”, otherwise known as bile duct cancer.
The full release from Nintendo follows below:
Notification of Death and Personnel Change of a Representative Director (President)
Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth.
1. Name: Satoru Iwata
2. Date of Birth: December 6, 1959
3. Career Record:
June 2000
Appointed as Director
May 2002
Appointed as President
Appointed as Representative Director
June 2013
Appointed as CEO of Nintendo of America Inc.
4. OtherInformation:
As a result, the following two Representative Directors remain at the company.
Genyo Takeda (Representative Director; Senior Managing Director)
Shigeru Miyamoto (Representative Director; Senior Managing Director)
Iwata has fought some significant battles with his health in recent times. He had surgery to remove a bile duct tumour in early 2014, but returned to Nintendo in later 2014.
Iwata noted at the time:
“In general, it is said that a bile duct growth can be difficult-to-treat, partly because of the difficulty of detecting it early. In my case, luckily, it was detected very early and I had no symptoms.”
Not enough is known about Iwata’s personal diagnosis and ongoing treatment and problems. But bile duct cancer is uncommon, and hard to treat.
The prognosis for sufferers by stage is not good, based on Cancer.org’s 5-year survival rate.
Iwata became Nintendo’s president in 2002, taking over from longtime boss Hiroshi Yamauchi. He led the company to huge success with the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles, although the company has struggled more recently with the Wii U underperforming.
Iwata was seen as a great man for Nintendo. He cut his own pay in half when Nintendo suffered a downturn in 2014 and was seen to be an inspirational leader.
"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." – Satoru Iwata
— TooManyGames (@TooManyGames) July 13, 2015
Big loss for Nintendo and gamers worldwide with Satoru Iwata. RIP
— Ian Hecox (@SmoshIan) July 13, 2015
Thank you for everything, Mr. Iwata.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 13, 2015
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