A paywalled article, but I excerpted the choice parts.
By age 30, Epic Games Inc. founder and CEO Tim Sweeney had a couple of successful videogames under his belt and was starting to make real money.
"I had a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in the parking lot of my apartment," he recalled. "People who hadn't met me thought I must be a drug dealer."
Today, Mr. Sweeney, at 48, is worth more than $7 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. Epic was last valued at $15 billion, counting Walt Disney Co. and China's Tencent Holdings PLC among its investors. And "Fortnite," its blockbuster game, has racked up 250 million players and $3.9 billion in estimated revenue.
Mr. Sweeney is a tech giant, but he remains a little-known figure.
"I'm single. Unmarried, no kids. So I lead a fairly simple life," he said. In his spare time he programs or hikes. "I love going off the trail and finding things that I think nobody's ever seen before," he said.
Mr. Sweeney has long since shed his passion for luxury vehicles. He now puts his money toward nature-conservation efforts. He's spent hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve more than 45,000 acres of forest throughout North Carolina.
His favorite food is Bojangles' fried chicken. ("It strikes the perfect balance between tasty food and time commitment," he said.) He primarily drinks Diet Coke ("but only because it's almost impossible to find Tab nowadays"). His office uniform is a T-shirt and cargo pants.
While the biggest U.S. videogame companies are clustered in Los Angeles, New York and the Bay Area, Epic is based in Cary, N.C., down the road from Raleigh. Mr. Sweeney said the location prevents Epic from being swayed by Silicon Valley groupthink....
People who have worked with Mr. Sweeney describe him as highly intelligent, with a youthful air. Lee Perry, a former Epic videogame designer, recalled seeing Mr. Sweeney jump on a small trampoline in the office and rollerblade around the company's parking lot. "He's just a big kid," Mr. Perry said.
Mr. Sweeney works at a desk in a six-person office with some of the leadership team. "There are a number of similar 'brain trust' offices throughout Epic that I visit a lot," he said. "We find small group offices like this strike the best balance between individual work and group collaboration, versus solitary offices or cube farms."
Sweeney is particularly proud of helping push Cross Play with Nintendo and MS. Although he hoped Sony would also follow suit, but he's happy he started a dialogue.
Fortnite was also a result of an internal Game Jam. Didn't know that.
Nothing on the Epic Game Store, though.
By age 30, Epic Games Inc. founder and CEO Tim Sweeney had a couple of successful videogames under his belt and was starting to make real money.
"I had a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in the parking lot of my apartment," he recalled. "People who hadn't met me thought I must be a drug dealer."
Today, Mr. Sweeney, at 48, is worth more than $7 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. Epic was last valued at $15 billion, counting Walt Disney Co. and China's Tencent Holdings PLC among its investors. And "Fortnite," its blockbuster game, has racked up 250 million players and $3.9 billion in estimated revenue.
Mr. Sweeney is a tech giant, but he remains a little-known figure.
"I'm single. Unmarried, no kids. So I lead a fairly simple life," he said. In his spare time he programs or hikes. "I love going off the trail and finding things that I think nobody's ever seen before," he said.
Mr. Sweeney has long since shed his passion for luxury vehicles. He now puts his money toward nature-conservation efforts. He's spent hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve more than 45,000 acres of forest throughout North Carolina.
His favorite food is Bojangles' fried chicken. ("It strikes the perfect balance between tasty food and time commitment," he said.) He primarily drinks Diet Coke ("but only because it's almost impossible to find Tab nowadays"). His office uniform is a T-shirt and cargo pants.
While the biggest U.S. videogame companies are clustered in Los Angeles, New York and the Bay Area, Epic is based in Cary, N.C., down the road from Raleigh. Mr. Sweeney said the location prevents Epic from being swayed by Silicon Valley groupthink....
People who have worked with Mr. Sweeney describe him as highly intelligent, with a youthful air. Lee Perry, a former Epic videogame designer, recalled seeing Mr. Sweeney jump on a small trampoline in the office and rollerblade around the company's parking lot. "He's just a big kid," Mr. Perry said.
Mr. Sweeney works at a desk in a six-person office with some of the leadership team. "There are a number of similar 'brain trust' offices throughout Epic that I visit a lot," he said. "We find small group offices like this strike the best balance between individual work and group collaboration, versus solitary offices or cube farms."
Sweeney is particularly proud of helping push Cross Play with Nintendo and MS. Although he hoped Sony would also follow suit, but he's happy he started a dialogue.
Fortnite was also a result of an internal Game Jam. Didn't know that.
Nothing on the Epic Game Store, though.
