Howard Lincoln | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lincoln in 2007 | |
| Born | (1940-02-14)February 14, 1940 (age 85) Oakland,California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | Former chairman ofNintendo of America, former CEO ofSeattle Mariners |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1966–1970 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant |
Howard Charles Lincoln (born February 14, 1940) is an American lawyer and businessman, known primarily for being the former chairman ofNintendo of America and the former chairman andchief executive officer of theSeattle Marinersbaseball team, representing absentee majority ownerHiroshi Yamauchi until Yamauchi died on September 19, 2013.
Born inOakland, California, Lincoln was an activeBoy Scout. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he posed for the famousNorman Rockwell paintingThe Scoutmaster, which was published in a calendar in 1956.[1] In the painting, young Lincoln is on the immediate right of the campfire. Lincoln eventually attained the rank ofEagle Scout and received aDistinguished Eagle Scout Award.
Lincolnmatriculated in 1957 at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he earned hisBA in political science in 1962 and hisJuris Doctor degree fromUniversity of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1965. From 1966 to 1970, he served as alieutenant within theUnited States NavyJudge Advocate General's Corps. He then worked in private practice as an attorney inSeattle,Washington.
Lincoln did legal work in 1981 for Nintendo, culminating in the legal caseUniversal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., in whichUniversal City Studios had sued Nintendo claiming that thevideo gameDonkey Kong infringed upon Universal City Studio's rights toKing Kong. Lincoln hiredJohn Kirby to represent Nintendo in the courtroom. Nintendo won the case, as well as successive court appeals.[2]
Lincoln met Yamauchi in 1982 and joined Nintendo in 1983, as its Senior Vice President and General Counsel. He andMinoru Arakawa were instrumental in rebuilding theNorth Americanvideo game industry (after thecrash of 1983) with their highly successful marketing of theNintendo Entertainment System.[3] In 1994, he was appointed its chairman.[4][5]
As Vice President of Nintendo, Lincoln was involved in litigation withTengen, a subsidiary ofAtari Games, about the rights toTetris, and defended Nintendo's use of the10NESlock-out chip.[6][7] He represented the company in the1993 United States Senate hearings on video games, during which he promisedJoe Lieberman andHerb Kohl he would not releaseNight Trap on a Nintendo console because it was considered inappropriate for children.[8]
Lincoln announced his retirement from Nintendo in 1999[9] and departed the company in 2000.[10]
In September 1999, Lincoln became CEO of the Seattle Mariners, serving as the point man for majority investorHiroshi Yamauchi when it came to making decisions (up until 2008, Lincoln noted that Yamauchi only pushed heavily for the team to pursue three players:Kazuhiro Sasaki,Ichiro Suzuki andKenji Johjima); it was Lincoln that hiredPat Gillick to serve as general manager for the 2000 season.[11][12][13]
Lincoln's tenure as CEO of theSeattle Mariners saw both success and controversy. Lincoln was considered instrumental, along with former senatorSlade Gorton, in preserving the team's location in Seattle and negotiating with the city for a new stadium, Safeco Field. His stewardship has seen the team's first post-season appearances, in 1995, 1997, 2000, and 2001, as well as the aggressive expansion of the Mariners into the Japanese market, most noticeably through the acquisition of Japanese superstarIchiro Suzuki.
Lou Piniella left after the 2002 season andPat Gillick left the following year. Pinella once described Lincoln and Gillick prior to his departure: "I like Howard personally. I enjoyed working with him. He's a bright guy, a charming guy. But I'll tell you this -- he's bottom line. Howard likes total, total control. Pat wants to win. Howard just doesn't know how." Lincoln disagreed with that remark, stating that he gave the benefit of the doubt to those he had serve as general manager.[14][15] Lincoln replaced Pinella withBob Melvin and Gillick withBill Bavasi, with the latter being considered by Lincoln as a regret.[16] In 2002, the first season without playoff baseball for the Mariners in years, he was quoted as saying the following about the goal set out for the team when it came to acquisitions in or out of season: "You can go to the Series two ways; first, go for it regardless of the financial risk or consequences, the way Cleveland or Florida has; or go for it with a competitive team that plays for championships on a continual basis. The objective of the Seattle Mariners is not to go to the World Series regardless of the financial consequences, that is irresponsible." (this clarification arose after he had been quoted as saying the goal of the team was not to win a World Series but to be competitive every year).[17][18] From 2003 to 2016, the Mariners went through nine different managers, with none of them reaching the playoffs under Lincoln (who was reported as having kept a notebook of the insults leveled at him up to 2004) as CEO.
In April of 2016, Lincoln retired as CEO, concurrent with Nintendo selling most of its stake in the team.[19][20][21]
In addition to Lincoln's business achievements, he is an active philanthropist. He has served as campaign chair forUnited Way of King County and theChief Seattle Council of theBoy Scouts of America. He is also a trustee ofWestern Washington University.[22]
In 1985 when Nintendo entered the US home videogame market, there was no home videogame market, just the spectacular remnants of an industry that left everyone wary. With Arakawa and Lincoln at the helm and the odds stacked against them, Nintendo of America brilliantly laid the foundations for the sprawling, multifaceted beast that now likes to be known as the interactive entertainment business.
For example, in 1994 Lincoln was appointed chairman of Nintendo of America..
