Sad news for SEGA fans. We’ve learned that Tom Petit, co-founder of Sega Enterprises, Inc. (USA) and president and CEO of the company for eight years, passed away at his home in Durango, Colorado on November 21, 2017. Tom worked in the video game industry for more than 28 years, with leadership positions at Atari, Nintendo and SEGA.
I’ll admit, in assembling information about Tom’s time with SEGA, I could not find a lot. I still do not have a firm idea of when he was at SEGA, though he did appear in news stories from 1986-1991. I came across an interview he did when the SEGA arcade game Time Traveler released in 1991 (seen above) and found this fun article on Tom and David Rosen at the 1986 JAMMA Arcade Game Show where OutRun was unveiled. I am also under the impression that Tom was the president and CEO of the coin-op side of things for America.
In 2004, Tom retired from the industry and started a career in ranch real estate development. His hobbies included fly fishing and scuba diving. A memorial service is planned for the summer of 2018, and you can leave a tribute here. We’ll provide more information on Tom Petit’s career as we find it.
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Sad to hear that key people of this industry are slowly passing away now
Indeed. May he Rest In Peace
Will be really sad when David Rosen passes way as he is almost 90 now. Correct me if im wrong but i have never seen a video interview with him in recent times, be a shame as he built so much of our childhoods
Tom and I started in the video game business. He was a friendly competitor when the video business began. I will always remember tom as a class act.