Razer Co-founder Robert ‘RazerGuy’ Krakoff has passed away
We take a look at Robert 'RazerGuy' Krakoff's legacy
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On April 28th 2022, Razer announced the passing of co-founder Robert ‘RazerGuy’ Krakoff at the age of 81. The announcement was made via Razer’s official Twitter account, among other official social media outlets.
Since its beginning with the Razer Boomslang, Razer has enjoyed successful growth in the realm of gaming peripherals, thanks in no small part to aggressive marketing, quality gaming mice and keyboards, and some shrewd financial decisions. It all started in 1998 when Razer was a subsidiary of kärna LLC, created to design computer peripherals focused on gaming. This came to fruition with the release of the aforementioned Boomslang, kicking off their reptilian naming conventions, which continue to this day.
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The Razer we all know and mostly love began in earnest around 2005 when Min Liang Tan and Robert Krakoff secured investment from Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-Shing and Temasek Holdings, a holding company based in Singapore. Since this initial investment, Razer has experienced a meteoric rise, expanding its product lineup from mice to keyboards, headsets, laptops, and recently, internal PC components.
Who was Robert ‘RazerGuy’ Krakoff?
If you were lucky enough to get hold of a Razer mouse back in the day, it would come with a little note from ‘RazerGuy’. This began a long-standing tradition of notes included in the box from Razer’s top dogs. For the last few years, the notes have been from Min Liang Tan, and have been the subject of ridicule and sarcasm, but we all secretly appreciated them. A quick google reveals Robert ‘RazerGuy’ Krakoff’s legacy as one of kindness, humility, and generosity, all of which are rare traits in the technology industry.
He was well-known among the gaming community for an old-school hands-on approach to business, one famous example was his personal reply to a fan who couldn’t afford the original Razer Boomslang. He read the post on the XSReality forum and personally sent the mouse to the fan, an act of genuine generosity that doesn’t come around too often these days. Anecdotal stories about his personable nature come up very often, helping to secure his reputation as one fo the all-time treating in the gaming hardware world.
Robert ‘RazerGuy’ Krakoff is survived by his wife, two children, and five grandchildren.
You’ll be missed, RazerGuy. Rest in peace.
