Hiroshi Yamauchi, former chairman of Nintendo Co., the world's biggest maker of hand-held game machines, overtook property developer Akira Mori to become the richest person in Japan, according to Forbes Asia's May 19 issue.
Yamauchi, 80, saw his net worth soar last year by $3 billion to $7.8 billion on surging sales of Nintendo's Wii game console, Forbes said.
He rose to first place from third in the magazine's annual list of the 40 richest people in Japan.