Satoru Iwata was already a legend in the gaming community while he served as Nintendo president, and that legacy has only grown since his untimely death in 2015. He led the company through the highs of the Wii and DS era, but it's his actions through the financial lows of the Wii U and 3DS generation that are perhaps best remembered these days. Game developers are now subjected to the constant threat of mass layoffs at major publishers, but Iwata took a different approach.
Iwata famously slashed his own salary by 50% in 2011, in response to poor financial results following the launch of the 3DS. Other executives at Nintendo took smaller pay cuts as well, but the company did not lay off employees even during a period of three back-to-back years of operating losses as both the 3DS and Wii U failed to gain ground.
