David M. Rosen (born January 22, 1930) is an American businessman and the co-founder of the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese video game company

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

. He retired from the company as

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

in 1996.

Career

Rosen Enterprises, Ltd.

Rosen served in the United States Air Force from 1948 to 1952. He was primarily in

and the Far East during the Korean War, and remained there after his service. In 1954 Rosen started Rosen Enterprises, Inc., which focused on selling art created in Japan to the American market, and photo studios for Japanese identification cards. The photo business was called Photorama and Rosen established studios in hundreds of locations all over Japan. In 1957, Rosen Enterprises, Ltd. shifted its focus and pioneered the importation and operation of coin-op amusement machines popular in the United States, to Japan to meet the growing leisure market. Rosen leveraged his existing business relationships and locations of his Photorama photo studios to roll out the amusement machines.

Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

In 1965, Rosen Enterprises, Ltd. Merged with Nihon Goraku Bussan, Ltd. (aka Service Games). Nihon Goraku Bussan, Ltd. used the brand name

(the name originates from SErvice GAmes Japan) for their jukeboxes and slot machines which were located on United States Military bases for amusement purposes. After the merger of the two companies, Sega Enterprises Ltd. was established and Rosen became

, Chief Executive Officer and President of the resulting company. Rosen co-founded the Japan Amusement Association in 1967 and was elected as Chairman.

Periscope

In 1966, under Rosen's direction,

Sega Enterprises Ltd. is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

, created its first original game, called Periscope, which led to the introduction of 25¢ play in the United States and began Sega's export business.

Gulf+Western Industries, Inc.

After meeting with

Charles Bluhdorn Charles George Bluhdorn (born Karl Georg Blühdorn; September 20, 1926 – February 19, 1983) was an Austrian-born American industrialist. Early life Bluhdorn was born in Vienna, Austria, to an Austrian Jewish mother Rosa Fuchs and father Paul B ...

in 1969, Rosen and partners agreed to sell Sega Enterprises Ltd. to the conglomerate Gulf+Western Industries, Inc., although Rosen remained

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Sega division. In the early 1970s Sega was made a subsidiary of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Corporation, which was also owned by Gulf+Western. During this period Barry Diller and Michael Eisner, both at Paramount joined Rosen on the Board of Sega and Rosen joined the Board at Paramount. In 1978 Sega Enterprises Ltd. acquired a distribution company, Essco Tdg., that was founded by Hayao Nakayama. After the passing of Charles Bluhdorn, Gulf+Western wanted to sell off manufacturing assets, including Sega. Consequently, Sega's United States assets were sold to Bally Manufacturing Corporation.

Sega, Ltd.

Having already moved his family to Los Angeles and not wanting to return to Japan full-time, Rosen declined the opportunity of solely purchasing the Japanese assets of Sega. In March 1984, Rosen and Hayao Nakayama put together a buyout group led by Isao Okawa and purchased Sega's Japanese assets. Okawa became Chairman and Nakayama became President of Sega Ltd. This allowed Rosen to remain in the states while Nakayama was charged with the day-to-day operations of Sega's headquarters in Japan. Rosen agreed to set up Sega of America and oversee the US & overseas operations, and he became Chairman of Sega of America which was headquartered in Los Angeles. Rosen remained a Director of Sega (Japan) until 1996 and at that time he resigned from both Sega (Japan) and Sega of America. Rosen is currently retired and living in Los Angeles.

Personal life

Rosen was born in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the son of Fay (née Sachs) and Samuel Rosen. He married Masako Fujisaki in 1954, and adopted a daughter, Lisa. Rosen is Jewish.

References

External links

"8 Interesting Facts About Gaming's Greatest Companies"
- Sega Was Founded By Americans
"The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Sega"
by Eddy Wu

Dec 1993 * ttp://segaretro.org/Periscope SegaRetro Periscope Game {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, David Living people 1930 births United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War American businesspeople Jewish American military personnel Sega people Video game businesspeople 21st-century American Jews