Hiroshi Yamauchi is Nintendo's Supereme Overlord, having molded the company over the course of 60-plus years from a novelty toy and playing card manufacturer to one of the world's foremost technological innovators and a multi-billion dollar enterprise. He inherited the Nintendo company from his family in 1949, stepping down only after 53 years as president in 2002. Since his departure, he has retained a 10% share in the company and, since Satoru Iwata's ascendancy to his old position, has reaped enough from the company's hemorrhaging success to become one of the richest people in Japan. As of 2008, he is the 149th richest miser in the world1. As of 2012 his net worth is $2.7 billion2.