Nintendo confirms the original Mario was a real estate developer from Tukwila who rented a warehouse to the company in the 1980s.
He just so happened to stop by to collect rent the same day employees were brainstorming character names., Mario Segale died Oct. 27, 2018. He started a small construction and real estate empire in Tukwila starting in the 1950s and rented a 60,000-square-foot warehouse to Nintendo around 1980 as it expanded into the American market.
According to the obituary, Segale knew he was the inspiration behind the character’s name but he “always ducked the notoriety and wanted to be known instead for what he accomplished in his life.”