By 1999, the pinball industry was virtually dead and Williams, once the dominant leader in a healthy industry, stopped manufacturing pinball machines and focused on gambling devices as WMS Gaming. During the same year, Sega left the pinball industry and sold its pinball division, previously purchased from Data East in 1994, to Gary Stern, the son of Sam Stern. Gary Stern, who had been running Data East/Sega pinball since 1986, founded Stern Pinball, Inc. that same year. [1] Stern Pinball, Inc. is based in Melrose Park, Illinois.
Several Williams alumni, like pinball designers Steve Ritchie and George Gomez are currently designing games for Stern Pinball, alongside longtime Data East/Sega Pinball designer John Borg.
Source: WikiPedia