Sunday Times Rich List reveals UK’s wealthiest gaming millionaires
The Sunday Times Rich Listhas revealedBritain’s wealthiest gaming millionaires in a new list published today. It shows that the top nine earners in the industry are collectively worth £2.4bn, led by Mel Morris who sold King, the company behind Candy Crush, to Activision in 2015.
Morris is worth £515m, up £15m from 2019. He made an estimated £450m from the sale of King Digital Entertainment, which is now known as King.com. Riccardo Zacconi and Sebastian Knutsson of King also make the list.
The only new entry to the list for 2020 is Debbie Bushwick, one of only two women. She is the co-founder of Team17, makers of the Worms games, and she made around £48m when she sold half her 44% stake in the company in 2018. Her current £196m fortune is said to be down to the performance of her remaining shares in the company.
In third behind King’s Morris and Zacconi are the Houser brothers Sam and Dan, whose combined £310m worth is from their phenomenally popular creation Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto V, released in 2013, is the best selling entertainment product of all time.
The remaining entries on the impressive list are Neil Taylor and family of the GAME Digital franchise, David Braben and Wendy Irvin-Braben of Frontier Developments, and Paddy Burns and Chris van der Kuyl of 4J Studios, the studio that produces the Minecraft games.
Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “The explosion of wealth creation in the gaming world typifies the increasingly varied ways Britain’s super rich are building their fortunes. Gone are the days when the Sunday Times Rich List was dominated by money men, industrialists and property tycoons.
“Debbie Bestwick epitomises the march of these self-made men and women, who often come from modest backgrounds and amass their wealth through creating products and services many of us enjoy.”
Here’s the list in full:
Rank
Name
Source of Wealth
2020 Wealth
Rise/Fall
1
Mel Morris
King Digital Entertainment
(Candy Crush)
£515m
Up £15m
2
Riccardo Zacconi
King Digital Entertainment (Candy Crush)
£410m
Up £15m
3
Sam and Dan Houser
Take-Two Interactive
(Grand Theft Auto)
£310m
Up £10m
4
Neil Taylor and family
GAME Digita
(games retailer)l
£230m
No change
5
Sebastian Knutsson
King Digital Entertainment (Candy Crush)
£225m
Up £5m
6
Debbie Bestwick
Team17 (Worms)
£196m
New entry
7
David Braben and Wendy Irvin-Braben
Frontier Developments (Zoo Tycoon)
£182m
Up £50m
8=
Paddy Burns
4J Studios (Minecraft)
£150m
No change
8=
Chris van der Kuyl
4J Studios (Minecraft)
£150m
No change
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
