Throughout the history of the video game industry, Nintendo has always found itself as one of the big-name companies. With its massive global consumer base and a value of over $80 billion today, it’s safe to say that Nintendo has done quite well for itself over the years. That being said, there have been a handful of attempts over the years from other organizations to buy the company, which could have very well happened had things worked out differently.
During an episode of the Grit podcast, Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision, recalled a story about the multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. At the time Vivendi had just sold its stake in Activision, and Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Mugner was discussing purchasing the company with Kotick. During these discussions, he mentioned offhand that he had interest in purchasing Nintendo as well.
You know, I was looking at a couple other companies in your sector. I think if we bought yours, we should buy that company Nintendo, too. Have you guys looked at it? You know, I don’t think anything is gonna go really bad before I’m dead, and then if it goes bad after I’m dead, they’ll just chalk it up to the folly of an 82-year-old, so you don’t have to be so concerned about disappointing me.
At the time, Nintendo was valued at around $13 billion, and Berkshire Hathaway could have very well made an offer on that scale. However, Munger himself was said to be fairly averse towards the video game industry, comparing it to gambling according to Kotick. Ultimately, neither Nintendo nor Activision were purchased by Berkshire Hathaway, and Activision would end up buying itself back from Vivendi in 2013.
While nothing ultimately came of this, it’s nonetheless interesting to imagine a world in which Nintendo found itself under the larger umbrella of another company. Who knows what impact that could have had on the direction Nintendo would find itself taking. It’s likely that much of how things are now would be fairly different. Of course that remains left to the imagination for now, and likely for the future as well, as Nintendo shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Via: GameSpot
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Written by Abbie Maxwell
Lifelong Nintendo fangirl, Abbie holds a special place in her heart for video games. She has always strived to provide tips and tricks to make the experiences of those who share her passions that much better.
