Ryan Brant, founding father of videogame writer Take-Two Interactive, handed away on March 23 on the age of 49. Brant is survived by his spouse, Diana, 4 youngsters, and each mother and father. “We were saddened to learn of the passing of Ryan Brant,” a Take-Two spokesperson tells GamesIndustry.biz. “His vision for interactive entertainment began our company’s long-standing history and we are grateful for his contributions. We extend our condolences to his family and friends.”
Brant based Take-Two in 1993, gathering $1.5 million in funding from household and personal buyers to get the corporate began. He had beforehand labored together with his father, Peter Brant, on the journal Interview, however wished to get into tech and gaming as one thing extra applicable for a youthful businessman.
Under Brant, Take-Two put out a sequence of profitable FMV games earlier than branching out to publish different titles and decide up extra improvement studios. Those acquisitions included DMA Design, earlier than that firm turned often known as Rockstar – the eventual launch of Grand Theft Auto III ensured that Take-Two would stay a drive within the trade.
Brant stepped down as CEO of Take-Two in 2001, and left his function as chairman in 2004 to develop into vice chairman of manufacturing. He left the corporate solely in 2006, following an SEC grievance over misreported income which noticed Take-Two and its executives – Brant included – pay hundreds of thousands in fines.
A separate SEC investigation over backdated shares noticed Brant plead responsible to falsifying enterprise information in 2007. He was fined an additional $7.three million and barred from holding one other controlling place in any publicly traded firm.
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