As of January 8, a new name has been added to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index from the gaming community. Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, finds himself in the company of high society after making the list for the very first time. Sweeney, who is only 48, now sits in the number 198 spot with a total net worth of $7.16 billion dollars. He joins fellow gaming icons such as Kim Jungju (296), the founder of Nexon, William Ding (64), founder of NetEase which licenses games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch in China, and Gabe Newell (357), the creator of Valve. It is important to note that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index is updated every day after the market closes, so the rankings may fluctuate.
Each billionaire has a profile on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Sweeney’s profile makes note of the $1.6 billion dollars of revenue accrued in 2018, as well as his philanthropic work preserving thousands of acres of land in North Carolina where his company is based (all while managing to mention Fortnite only one time). Since Sweeney created his own company, which is the largest asset to his wealth, he is considered a self-made billionaire, and a fair amount of credit can be given to Fortnite for his inclusion on the list. However, Fortnite is not Sweeney’s only claim to fame, though it does seem to overshadow the others as of late.
Sweeney, in addition to founding Epic and reaching massive success with Fortnite, is also the creator of ZZT, a PC game from 1991 in which he wrote the games scripting language, called ZZT-oop. He also developed the first iteration of the Unreal Engine. The game engine, now in its best format to date (Unreal Engine 4) was developed by Sweeney and Epic Games. If Sweeney’s work is not proof enough, the gaming industry also recognizes him as an important part of the community, as shown by his receipt of the Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Regardless of how you feel about Sweeney, Fortnite, or Epic Games, breaking into the veritable who’s who of the rich and powerful gracing the Bloomberg Billionaires Index is no small feat.