Born as Rudolph Heinrich Baer on the 8th March 1922 in Rodalben, Palatinate, Germany, Ralph was an inventor, pioneer in video game development and engineer, known as the “Father of Video Games” in the industry, because of his numerous contributions to the development of the games in the second half of the 20th century. Some of his most notable creations include the home video game system the Magnavox Odyssey, and the Shooting Gallery, a light gun used for the Magnavox Odyssey console, among other inventions. Ralph passed away in 2014.
Have you ever wondered how rich Ralph Baer was, at the time of his death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Baer’s net worth is as high as $5 million, an amount earned through his successful career, active from the late ‘40s until the 2000s.
Ralph Baer Net Worth $5 Million
Ralph was the son of Jewish parents, Leo and Lotte Baer; growing up in Germany as a Jew was quite tough for him, since he was expelled from school and was forced to go to an all-Jewish school. The social situation for all Jewish people deteriorated in Germany, and fearing for their future, the Baer family migrated to the US in 1938, settling in New York City, just two months before the infamous Kristallnacht.
Once in New York, Ralph, now a teenager, needed a proper education, but in fear of being caught and sent back to Germany, he avoided proper education for some time. Instead, he self-taught himself, and found a job in one of the factories where he would receive $12 dollars per week as a wage. He noticed an advertisement on a bus station for education in electronics, and soon quit his job and enrolled at the National Radio Institute. He finished his studies in 1940 and received the qualification of a radio service technician. Three years later, he was called into the US Army to fight in World War II, and was sent to London as a part of military intelligence. After returning from the war, Ralph enrolled at the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago, and on an account of his GI Bill, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Television Engineering in 1949.
Before long he found himself at Wappler, Inc., a small electro-medical equipment firm, serving as its chief engineer. There he was responsible for designing and building epilators, surgical machines, and low-frequency pulse generating muscle-toning equipment. Two years later he joined Loral Electronics, and became a senior engineer, which certainly added to his wealth. Ralph was now designing power line carrier signaling equipment for IBM, then the following year he became a part of Transitorn, Inc., firstly as chief engineer, and then vice president of the firm.
He joined Sanders Associates in 1956, and remained with the company until 1987. There, he was responsible for overseeing the work of around 500 engineers on the development of electronic systems for military application, which led to an eventual creation of the concept for a home video console. Before his retirement in 1987, Ralph started collaborating with Bob Pelovitz of Asciom, LLC. The two created several toys and video games, and were active until Ralph’s death in 2014.
During his time at Loral, Ralph got the idea to create a video game using the television screen. He submitted a proposal to his supervisors, writing a four-page document explaining his idea.
His proposal was accepted, and with $2.500 he got two helpers as well, Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch. The trio created the console known as “Brown Box”, which would later become Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972. The console sold around 350,000 in the next three years, largely increasing Ralph’s wealth. However, with the success of his video console, Ralph made some enemies, including Nolan Bushnell, president of Atari at the time.
Aside from creating world’s first video console, Ralph is also credited as a contributor to several video games, including “Simon” (1978), “Super Simon” (1979), and “Maniac” (1979).
Thanks for his successful career, Ralph received a number of recognitions and honors, including the G-Phoria Legend Award, then the Game Developers Conference Developers Choice “Pioneer” award in 2008, while two years later, Ralph was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the US Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C, among many other awards.
Regarding his personal life, Ralph was married to Dena Whinston from 1952 until 2006, when she died. The couple had three children together.
Ralph passed away peacefully at his home in Manchester, New Hampshire USA, on the 6th December 2014, aged 92
