Satoru Iwata (DOB: December 6, 1959) is currently the fourth president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. and was the former president of HAL Laboratory, Inc.

During high school, Iwata created simplistic games that were playable on calculators, and once he completed college at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1982, he joined HAL the following year. Over the years, Iwata has been heavily involved in the Kirby series, as well as other well-known videogames, such as Balloon Fight and EarthBound (Mother 2 in Japan).

In 1993, Iwata became president of HAL Laboratory, Inc.

In 2000, Iwata left HAL, becoming leader of Nintendo's corporate planning division.

On May 31, 2002, Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. for 52 years, retired from the company. Yamauchi named Iwata as his successor, and Iwata has held this position to this day. Even so, Iwata continues to aid HAL to this day, and is even said to work as an artist for the company, creating concept art for the Kirby series.