MEET HENK
Henk Rogers is a pioneer in the video game industry and founder of The Tetris Company. In the 1980s, Rogers brought role-playing games to Japan and turned a little-known game called Tetris into an international phenomenon after intense negotiations with the Soviet Union and Nintendo. His efforts helped establish the Game Boy as a market leader and made Tetris one of the most popular games of all time. Rogers’ story became folklore in the gaming industry and is the subject of the 2023 Apple TV+ film “Tetris.”
Today, Rogers is the founder of 10 companies and non-profit organizations focused on software technologies, space colonization, and implementing renewable energy. A near-fatal heart attack in 2005 made Rogers identify his true missions in life and led to him founding the Blue Planet Foundation, a non-profit organization that has been instrumental in implementing renewable energy policies in Hawaii and 15 other U.S. states. Realizing this model needed to be exported to the rest of the world, Rogers founded the Blue Planet Alliance in 2021, an organization helping island communities disproportionately affected by climate change transition from being reliant on importing fossil fuels to using 100 percent renewable energy.
Rogers is also the founder of Blue Planet Energy, a leader in renewable energy storage systems, and the International Moonbase Alliance, an organization with the goal to build sustainable settlements on the Moon and Mars and establish Hawaii as a leader in the space industry. Today, Rogers continues to be an influential figure in both the gaming industry and the sustainable energy sector. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to both fields, including an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Hawaii, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Cronkite Award for Ocean Champions, being inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2008, and being named CEO of the Year by Hawaii Business Magazine in 2015.
He currently lives between his off-grid ranch in Hawaii and New York City and continues to be an active entrepreneur pursuing his passion for making a positive impact on the world.
“I DO NOT HAVE HOPE, I HAVE DETERMINATION.”
HENK’S VISION
"WE WILL END THE USE OF CARBON-BASED FUEL BY 2045.”
Henk Rogers’ bold vision for the future centers around creating a world in which humanity and nature live in harmony and his mission of ending the use of carbon-based fuels.
An influential figure in the fight against climate change, Rogers believes that locally-driven policy change is the essential domino that can activate solutions at the pace and scale needed to meet the challenge of climate change.
In 2007, Rogers’ created the Blue Planet Foundation, an organization which successfully lobbied Hawaiian lawmakers to mandate a legislative commitment to using 100 percent renewable energy sources for electricity in Hawaii by 2045. This groundbreaking legislation provided a reimagined climate strategy and was adopted by fifteen states and two territories in the United States.
Realizing this model needed to be exported to the rest of the world, Rogers in 2021 founded the Blue Planet Alliance, an organization which helps islands and countries around the world to legislatively mandate a commitment to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045 and stop importing fossil fuels.
Rogers is also a passionate advocate of creating a sustainable human presence on the Moon and Mars and assists essential laboratory research through his organization, the International MoonBase Alliance.
“WE ARE DOING THIS!”
HENK’S CAREER TIMELINE
1983
Founded Bullet-Proof Software in Yokohama, Japan, and launched Japan’s first role-playing game, The Black Onyx, which went on to become Japan’s #1 computer game in 1984.
1988
Discovered Tetris at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, licensed the rights for Japan and published Tetris on eight different personal computer platforms and the Nintendo Famicom.
1989
Traveled to Moscow and secured the rights to distribute Tetris on Nintendo’s Game Boy system from ELORG, the Soviet organization responsible for the import and export of computer software. ELORG was the agent for the Computing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences who had a license for Tetris from Alexey Pajitnov, the game’s creator. During that trip, he met Alexey and the two became instant friends.
1995/1996
Founded Blue Planet Software and The Tetris Company. When Alexey’s license to the Computing Center expired, ELORG claimed it controlled the rights to Tetris. In order to continue commercializing Tetris, Blue Planet Software and ELORG’s affiliate set up The Tetris Company to serve as the exclusive licensor of Tetris. Blue Planet Software became the brand manager and the exclusive agent of Tetris.
2002
Founded Blue Lava Wireless, one of the first companies to publish games for mobile phones in the U.S. market. Launched Tetris on mobile phones. Over 425 million mobile phone downloads of Tetris have been sold.
2004
Set up Tetris Holding, LLC with Alexey Pajitnov and acquired ELORG in 2005. Tetris Holding owns all rights to the Tetris game.
2005
Sold Blue Lava Wireless for a reported $137 million. Soon after, suffered a near-fatal heart attack and developed his new life missions during the recovery.
2007
Founded Blue Planet Foundation, a Honolulu nonprofit powering Hawaii’s transition to 100% clean energy and leading the way for global change.
2012
Founded Blue Planet Research, a private laboratory that researches, designs and builds off-grid renewable energy infrastructures, energy storage systems, hydrogen production systems and Moon-Mars habitats.
2012
Founded Blue Startups, one of the first technology accelerators in Hawaii.
2013
Funded and built the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), a Moon-Mars simulation habitat on Mauna Loa.
2014
Became chairman of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), a state-funded aerospace organization working to bring the business of space exploration to Hawaii.
JULY 4, 2014
Energy Independence Day:
Took his Honolulu residence off-grid with a new clean energy system, which includes a 24 kW solar array and a 60 kWh Lithium-Ferrous-Phosphate battery system. The next generation of Blue Ion batteries would go on to become Blue Planet Energy’s staple product for off-grid living, backup power and self-supply markets.
2015
Founded Blue Planet Energy, an energy storage company, which launched Blue Ion 2.0, a fire-safe energy storage system, that same year.
2015
Blue Planet Foundation launched a broad public campaign in Hawaii that successfully engaged community leaders, students and countless residents to show their support for the nation’s first 100% by 2045 renewable energy requirement. The legislature passed the aggressive law in a 74-2 vote.
2017
Founded the International MoonBase Alliance, a multinational organization with a goal to build a permanent human settlement on the Moon, and hosted the first ever International MoonBase Summit in Hawaii.
2018
Gave a speech as a special guest to the 139th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), thereby helping to convince them to declare climate change an emergency.
2019
Blue Planet Energy launched Blue Ion LXHV, the most advanced medium battery storage system in the world. The premium grid-optional energy storage solution integrates a wide range of energy sources to power businesses and critical infrastructure independent of, or in conjunction with, the utility grid.
2021
Formed the Blue Planet Alliance, which unites individuals, organizations and communities to create a world in which humanity and nature live in harmony.
