Michael Morhaime
| Michael Morhaime | |
|---|---|
 Morhaime at BlizzCon 2007 | |
| Born | November 3, 1967 |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Employer | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Title | President of Blizzard Entertainment, CEO and Co-Founder |
| Religion | Judaism |
Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is president and a co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment (originally founded in 1991 as Silicon & Synapse), a video game developer located in Irvine, California, currently owned by Activision Blizzard. He is also an alumnus of Triangle Fraternity[1] and received his bachelor's degree in 1990 from UCLA.[2][3]
In 2008 Morhaime was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Blizzard’s creation of World of Warcraft. Along with Don Daglow of Stormfront Studios and John Carmack of id Software, Morhaime is one of only three designers or producers to accept awards at both the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards and at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Interactive Achievement Awards.
Morhaime plays poker and reached 2nd place in edition 2006 of DICE's Celebrity Poker Tournament. In the last round, Mike faced Scott Fischman and Perry Friedman (World Series of Poker professionals), as well as Ray Muzyka, co-founder and CEO of video game developer Bioware. After a dramatic 45-minute game, Ray emerged victorious, with Morhaime placing 2nd overall in the tournament.[4]
Morhaime graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1985. Morhaime is also a member of ETC, a metal band formed of and by Blizzard Employees, where he plays bass guitar. His avatar is a male Troll, Mai'Kyl. He also appears in animated form in the South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft," which deals with World of Warcraft.
In 2008, Morhaime was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.[5] In 2012, Morhaime made a cameo appearance on The Guild, a web series about the lives of a gamers' online experiences with an MMORPG that draws references to World of Warcraft.
Awards
Morhaime received the national (US) Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the Technology category in 2012.[6]
References
- ↑ "Notable Alumni". Retrieved 2009-02-01.
- ↑ M. Abraham (2006-11-06). "UCLA Engineering Celebrates Accomplishments at Annual Awards Dinner". UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Archived from the original on 2007-12-22. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ↑ "Blizzard Entertainment 10th Anniversary Celebration". Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ↑ "Celebrity Poker Tournament".
- ↑ "The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences :: Hall of Fame". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- ↑ http://www.ey.com/US/en/Newsroom/News-releases/News_National-EOY-2012-Technology-Category-Award-Winner
External links
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