Nintendo President Satoru Iwata Dies Of Bile Duct Cancer

Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) NTDOY President Satoru Iwata has passed away at age 55.

The company, which is famous for creating the "Super Mario Bros.," "Legend of Zelda" and "Pokemon" franchises, released a statement announcing his death on Sunday:

"Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth," the statement read.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Iwata's condition had "worsened rapidly in recent days."

Nintendo has not announced who will replace Iwata but listed Genyo Takeda and acclaimed game developer Shigeru Miyamoto as representative directors and senior managing directors. Ars Technica pointed out that Nintendo did not clarify whether or not the two executivess will serve as interim presidents. According to CNNMoney, they will manage the company for the time being.

In addition to leading Nintendo as its president, Iwata was well known for participating in the firm's Nintendo Direct promotional videos, as well as the "Iwata Asks" series. He started his career as a game developer and became the company's president in 2002. He was also appointed as CEO of Nintendo of America in 2013.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.