John Wilbur Stealey Sr. is an American game developer and publisher who founded

MicroProse MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization'' and '' X-COM'' series. Most of their inte ...

with

Sid Meier Sidney K. Meier ( ; born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian-American programmer, designer, and producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the ''Civilization'' series. Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bi ...

. He also founded (in 1995) and is the current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

iEntertainment Network IEntertainment Network (IENT, stylized as iEntertainment Network and formerly known as Interactive Magic, iMagic, and iMagiconline) is an American video game company founded by Bill Stealey, the co-founder and former CEO of MicroProse, MicroProse ...

Business career

Stealey took a job with

General Instrument General Instrument (GI) was an American electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, Pennsylvania, specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. They formed in New York City in 1923 as an electronics manufacturer. During the 1950s ...

as their Director of Strategic Planning for their Systems and Service Division in Hunt Valley, Maryland. There he met

and co-founded his first game company,

Software. As CEO he grew the company to over $43 million in annual sales, taking MicroProse Software public in 1991, and selling in 1993 to a Kleiner Perkins company, Spectrum HoloByte. He resigned from the company following the merger. Stealey started the game software company

Interactive Magic IEntertainment Network (IENT, stylized as iEntertainment Network and formerly known as Interactive Magic, iMagic, and iMagiconline) is an American video game company founded by Bill Stealey, the co-founder and former CEO of MicroProse Software, ...

in 1995, took it public in 1998, and sold to a private equity firm in 1999. While running iEntertainment Network, Stealey mentioned in a 1996 interview that he owned his own military training aircraft and flew it for recreation on a regular basis.

Personal life

Stealey graduated from the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Un ...

in 1970 and was, at the time he co-founded Microprose, a Major in the USAF Reserve and instructor for the

Pennsylvania Air National Guard The Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is, along with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, an element of the Pennsylvania National Guard. As commonw ...

, flying A-37 attack aircraft. He retired from the military with the rank of Lt Col. Stealey owned the

Baltimore Spirit The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

of the National Professional Soccer League from the franchise's inception in 1992 until he sold it to Edwin F. Hale, Sr. in 1998. '' Next Generation'' listed Stealey in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995" for his roles as former head of MicroProse and then-current head of Interactive Magic. Stealey left the company in 1999, but later returned as CEO in 2002.

References

External links

LinkedIn Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stealey, Bill 1947 births American video game designers Living people MicroProse people United States Air Force Academy alumni Baltimore Blast