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Sega Co-Founder David Rosen Dies at 95
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Sega Enterprises co-founder Dave Rosen died on December 25. He was 95.
Rosen founded Rosen Enterprises Ltd in Japan in 1950, and began importing coin-operated game machines from the United States into Japan later in the 1950s. In 1965, the company was acquired by Nihon Goraku Bussan, which used Sega as a trade name. After the merger, Nihon Goraku Bussan began using the name Sega Enterprises (taking "Enterprises" from Rosen Enterprises' name), and Rosen headed the company.
Gulf and Western Industries acquired Sega in 1970 as a wholly owned subsidiary, with Rosen staying on as CEO. Rosen and Japanese entrepreneur Hayao Nakayama executed a management buyout of Sega's assets in 1984, which turned Sega Enterprises into an independent company again with Nakayama as president, and with Rosen leading the newly formed Sega of America division. He remained the chair of the Los Angeles-based Sega of America, during Sega's global rise with the Genesis or Mega Drive console, until his resignation in 1996.
Source: RePlay Magazine (Matt Harding) via VGC
