Scott D. Oki (born October 5, 1948, in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
) is a former senior vice-president of sales and marketing for
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
who conceived and built Microsoft's international operations. Oki also played a crucial role in Microsoft's rapid domestic growth during the 1980s.
Early life
Oki was a third generation
Japanese-American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
raised by a family
that some sources described as very traditional in outlook.
Oki's father was a postal worker while his mother worked as a secretary and the family often struggled financially so they had to work tying fish flies to gain additional income.
Oki graduated from Seattle's Franklin High School.
He then attended the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
but left after 18 months to join the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
. While in the service he took courses at the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...
. After he left the service in 1974, he went on to receive a BA in accounting and information systems and earned an MBA the following year. After holding several computer-related jobs (including a stint at
Hewlett-Packard), Oki went to work for Microsoft in 1982. During this time, the company only had 200 employees.
Work at Microsoft
When Oki joined Microsoft, he was said to have projected that the international market would represent 50 percent of Microsoft business and he immediately turned it to reality.
Oki steadily built Microsoft's international operations, and within two years it was more profitable than Microsoft's domestic operation. International sales exceeded half of the company's revenue.
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
then made him vice president of domestic operation, and within five years, the company's sales rose from $100 million to $1 billion. One of Oki's major contributions to Microsoft's success during that time was convincing Bill Gates and the board of directors to center product development and marketing efforts on
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
instead of
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 ...
. By the time he retired Oki was overseeing 3,000 employees. Later, he would describe his work at the company with these words: "Microsoft demanded a maniacal work focus: If you were awake, you were expected to be thinking about Microsoft."
Post-retirement activities
When Oki retired in 1992,
he reportedly cashed in
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
options estimated at $100 million. Instead of retiring full-time, however, Oki spends most of his time working with charities and organizations that he care about. He now runs the non-profit Oki Foundation, owns several golf courses, and serves on dozens of advisory boards and boards of directors for both for-profit and non-profit companies. Oki brought the
Seattle Sounders back in 1994 with the intent of putting all profits into the Oki Foundation.
Adrian Hanauer took over as managing partner of the Sounders in 2002. Oki is the Co-Chair of the
United Way of King County
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016.
United Way organizations raise funds ...
Campaign Board and Co-Chair of the Million Dollar Roundtable, Founder and Chairman of the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce, Founder and Co-President of the Chief Seattle Council Boy Scout Foundation, Co-Founder of Sounders For Kids, Co-Founder of
America's Foundation for Chess, Co-Founder of SeeYourImpact.org and Co-Founder of Social Venture Partners. He is a past-President of the Board of Regents for the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
and a past Chair of
Seattle Children's
Seattle Children's, formerly Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, formerly Children's Orthopedic Hospital, is a children's hospital in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The hospital specializes in the care of in ...
Hospital Foundation, which he joined upon the invitation of
Mary Gates,
mother of his former boss. Oki also serves on the national boards for
United Way of America
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016.
United Way o ...
,
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, ...
,
Japanese American National Museum
The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affi ...
, and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation. Scott Oki is a member of the
National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America
The National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America governs the Boy Scouts of America organization. One source reports that there were 72 members of the board in 2001.
The board is led by the national chair, a volunteer elected by the Nat ...
, the organization's governing body.
Oki would often refer to his involvement in the Children's Hospital Foundation as a trigger point in his life, allowing him the insight that there are more interesting things to do than working eighty hours a week and that these included things that he can do for the community.
Aside from his charitable activities, Oki and his wife, Laurie also founded a company calle
Nanny & Webster which sells all-cotton blankets for babies. The couple donates all of the profits to children's charities in Seattle.
Oki, along with Tom Ikeda, is one of the founders of the
Densho project, a non-profit organization whose mission is “to preserve and share history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Oki Golf
In 1994, Scott Oki purchased The Golf Club at Echo Falls in Snohomish, Washington. This initial acquisition was the preliminary step toward building what eventually became a unique portfolio of golf properties known collectively as Oki Golf. This collection has grown to include nine properties comprising eleven championship golf courses, both public and private, spread throughout the Puget Sound. In addition to The Golf Club at Echo Falls, the Oki Golf portfolio also includes Indian Summer Golf & Country Club in Olympia, Washington (private), The Plateau Club in Sammamish, Washington (private), and The Woodlands and The Links courses (formerly Meriwood and Vicwood – both public) at The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie in Lacey, Washington. The flagship courses in Oki Golf's celebrated collection are located at The Golf Club at Newcastle in Newcastle, WA. Two additional golf properties were added to the group in December 2005. Washington National Golf Club (public) in Auburn, WA, and Trophy Lake Golf & Casting (public) in Port Orchard, WA. (source: okigolf.com) In the winter of 2007, Oki Golf added Harbour Pointe (public) in Mukilteo, Washington. An additional property - Trilogy Golf Course (public) - was purchased in 2008 and has since been renamed to The Golf Club at Redmond Ridge.
During October, 2016, Oki sold eight of his golf courses for $137 million to Chinese-based HNA Holdings. Ownership of commercial real property by foreign businesses is prohibited in China.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oki, Scott
1948 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Seattle
Microsoft employees
Businesspeople in software
American advertising executives
University of Colorado alumni
American computer businesspeople
Regents of the University of Washington
National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members
American people of Japanese descent
Seattle Sounders (1994–2008)
Franklin High School (Seattle) alumni