The founder of an innovative toy company that taught millions of children how to read has died by physician assisted suicide.
The founder of LeapFrog Enterprises, Mike Wood, passed away at Dignitas in Zurich on April 10, surrounded by his loved ones as reported by the New York Times.
At 72 years old and battling Alzheimer’s, Wood chose to end his life before the disease advanced too far, a decision supported by his brother, Tim.
LeapFrog honored Wood’s memory, recognizing him as a trailblazing leader whose dedication to revolutionizing children’s learning led to remarkable outcomes.
‘His passion was transformed into a company that has helped millions of children learn to read and so much more.
‘We loved working with Mike and are honored to continue what he started,’ the company said in a statement.
‘We extend our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues and all who were touched by his legacy.’
Mike Wood, the founder of LeapFrog Enterprises, died by physician assisted suicide on April 10 at the age of 72
He was suffering from Alzheimer’s and decided to end his life at Dignitas – a nonprofit organization that offers physician assisted suicide in Zurich (pictured) – before the disease progressed too far
Wood was born on September 1, 1952 in northern California to a Michael Webster Wood, a building contractor, and Anne (Matthewson) Wood, and was raised in Orinda, east of Berkeley.
He attended Miramonte High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1974.
The inventor would then go on to earn a Masters of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California Hastings Collee of the Law – now known as University of California Law San Francisco).
Wood then spent several years working as an attorney.
But it was his personal life that inspired him to create the global toy company.
He was just a young father when he noticed that his toddler was struggling to read. Wood would later explain that his then three-year-old son, Mat, knew the alphabet but could not pronounce the letter sounds.
Wood was concerned that if his child lagged as a reader, he would forever struggle – and set off to create a prototype of an electronic toy that played sounds when children squeezed plastic letters.
He based the idea on greeting cards that play music when opened, and worked with engineers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and an education professor at Stanford to eventually develop the Phonics Desk – which was released in 1995.
Wood founded LeapFrog Enterprises in the 1990s after he noticed his then three-year-old son was struggling to read (pictured with actress Marcia Gay Harden)
The company shared news of Wood’s passing, describing him as ‘an innovative leader whose passion to find a new way to help children learn led to something remarkable
The success of the product attracted the attention of investors Michael R Milken and Larry Ellison – the founder of the software company Oracle.
The education company they founded, Knowledge Universe, then bought a majority stake in LeapFrog in 1997 – bringing in millions of dollars to develop new products.
With the extra funds, Wood acquired a company that developed the prototype of what became the LeapPad, which he insisted be sold for no more than $49 at Toys R Us stores across the US.
It was a blue and green clamshell that held interactive spiral-bound storybooks. Children could then use a pointer to touch a word or an item in the story to hear it spelled or sounded aloud.
The LeapPad became the best selling toy of the 2000 holiday season, and soon the company started developing other products to teach children other topics like geography and math.
Wood, pictured with his grandchildren, first created the Phonics Desk – which was released in 1995
By 2001, the reading devices and programs were in 2,500 schools – and the following year, LeapFrog products were in nine million homes.
When the company went public in January of that year with shares at $13, it soared almost 99 percent – becoming the best IPO of the year.
Former colleagues of his remembered the innovator as a demanding entrepreneur who was driven by a belief that technology could help the ‘LeapFrog generation’ gain an educational advantage.
Chris D’Angelo, Leapfrog’s former executive director of entertainment, for example, described in The Bloom Report – a toy industry news site – how the employees would often joke about Wood’s ‘famously fluffy hair.’
‘When stressed, he’d unconsciously rub his head – and the higher the hair, the higher the stakes,’ D’Angelo recounted. ‘We (quietly) called them “high hair days.”
‘It was funny, but also telling,’ he continued, saying Wood ‘felt everything deeply – our work, our mission, our audience.’
Wood is pictured with school children from PS 200 during Marcia Gay Harden and Leapfrog Enterprises Premiere Leapster Educational Toy at Toys R Us Times Square
He insisted the products be sold for no more than $49 at Toys R Us stores across the US
Wood ultimately stepped down from his successful company in 2004 at the age of 51.
By then, LeapFrog products were available in six languages and more than 25 countries around the world, the San Francisco Gate reported at the time.
When the Wall Street Journal asked about his decision to leave LeapFrog years later, Wood explained: ‘In 2003, we had 1000 employees, $650 million in revenue, $60 million in earnings and I had a headache every day.
‘There would be four or five problems on my desk every day that had no good answer – you had to pick the least worst answer.’
Still, Wood’s entrepreneurial spirit continued – and he went on to found and sell another reading education company, Smarty Ants, an online learning program.
In more recent years, Wood would volunteer as a reading teacher at a school near his home
In more recent years, Wood would volunteer as a reading teacher at a school near his home, where more than half of the students are classified by the state of California as socioeconomically disadvantaged.
‘He went on eBay and bought a ton of the products he’d developed and brought them into the classrooms,’ Bob Lally, cofounder of LeapFrog, told the Times.
‘He’d have pizza parties for the kids. He loved going to that school and teaching the kids.’
Wood is now survived by his wife, Leslie Harlander, his high school sweetheart whom he married in 2021, along with his brothers, Tim, Denis, his son, Mat, and three grandchildren.
