King’s CEO and former chairman have both topped The Sunday Times rich list in the UK when compared to other gaming names.
At the top of the list is Mel Morris, the former King chairman worth £515 million ($624 million). Meanwhile, at No.2, the developer’s CEO Riccardo Zacconi (pictured) has a wealth of £410 million ($497 million). Both men saw an increase of £15 million ($18.2 million) this year.
Another member of King claimed fifth place, with Sebastian Knutsson posting a 2020 wealth of £225 million ($272.8 million). The comany was responsible for 34 per cent of Activision-Blizzard’s revenue in its 2019 financial year.
Rockstar co-founders – Sam and Dan Houser – are in third place with a combined worth of £310 million ($375.9 million), a yearly increase of £10 million ($12 million). Just below them at No.4 is GAME co-founder Neil Taylor, whose family is worth £230 million ($278.9 million).
Breaking the mould
A new entry, at No.6 is Team17 CEO Debbie Bestwick. This year, she has a value of £196 million (£237.7 million), and she is the only woman to have cracked the top of The Sunday Times rich list.
At No.7 is Frontier Developments founder and CEO David Braben and his wife, Wendy Irvin-Braben. Their combined worth has increased by £50 million ($60.6 million) to £182 million ($220.7 million). Finally, both Paddy Burns and Chris Van Der Kuyl of 4J Studios are worth £150 million ($181.9 million) each.
It’s perhaps worth mentioning that these figures pale in comparison to the wealthiest people in the UK. Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family topped the 2019 Rich List with a value of £22 billion ($26.7 billion), for example.
