Sega president goes potty

Now you know your president loves you when he does this. Isao Owaka, president and chairman of Sega, has donated 85 billion yen's worth of stock to Sega in order to keep it solvent. The company's shock announcement that it was pulling out of Dreamcast production has apparently severed an important source of income, and the donation, which includes 32.7 billion yen of Sega stock alone, will help keep the company moving until such time as it starts pulling in cash again. Mr. Owaka's decision to donate the shares means that he is no longer chairman of Sega, no longer the owner. Sega themselves are reeling and uncertain of what to do with the shares, according to Famitsu they say that any decision will be made once the effect on Japan's market is known. The stock, which is worth over £500m at current exchange rates, is reported to include shareholdings in NextCom, CSK and Ascii amongst others. According to The Register, the losses Sega expected to see after dropping the Dreamcast would have been in the region of 80 billion yen. Obviously this donation covers that. Related Feature - Sega Kill off Dreamcast