Razer Co Founder Robert Razerguy Krakoff Has Died At 81

Razer at the time was a brand of Kärna, and wouldn’t formally become a standalone company until 2005 after Krakoff and current CEO Min-Liang Tan bought the rights to the brand from the bankrupt entity. Razer wasted little time flooding the market with a torrent of gaming-focused peripherals, many of which are named after venomous or predatory creatures. Before RGB LEDs became the kudzu of the gaming community, high-speed sensors, programmable hotkeys and customizable profiles were all the rage.

Krakoff led the marketing charge as RazerGuy, the public face of the startup. I had a private meeting with Krakoff at CES 2007 where he demoed the company’s featured attraction, the Mako 2.1 THX certified speaker system. The product was notable, but I was more impressed with Krakoff himself. He came across as extremely knowledgeable, incredibly passionate and very genuine, and treated a nobody like me with the utmost respect. Krakoff died on April 26, 2022, according to Razer. No cause of death was mentioned.