Forbes has detailed its annual 500 richest people in the United States list and it boasts two new names from the video game industry. Gabe Newell, who co-founded Valve Software and has been the brains behind classic titles like Half Life and digital distribution platform Steam, is one with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion. This is largely due to Valve’s success but Newell is also a majority shareholder in the company.
The second entrant is Markus “Notch” Persson better known as the man who created Minecraft and one of the youngest billionaires on the list. After founding Mojang, Perrson created Minecraft which caused a sensation like no other indie game before it. Persson sold Minecraft and Mojang to Microsoft last year and earned $1.75 billion from the deal due to owning a 70 percent stake in the company.
Who’s on top? Why, Bill Gates with an estimated market value of $79.2 billion of course. What are your thoughts on Newell and Persson making it in though? Let us know below.
