'Roblox' Founder's Wealth Soars To $4.2 Billion, Here's Why
An unexpected chain of events took place at the New York Stock Exchange today as gaming company Roblox Corps made a whopping $69.47, 54% above its reference price of $45 according to Forbes. While countless teens across the world chuckle at the site of their favorite game dominating Wall Street, it's Roblox's co-founder, Dave “Builderman” Bazsucki who gets the laugh as he racks in $4.2 million.
"Roblox is an amazing community where people are creating together," the millionaire developer tells CNN Business.
Before the rise of Roblox, Baszucki owned Interactive Physics, a software firm that was birthed by the need for computer solutions of physics students. This experiment provided the spark of inspiration for Roblox. Bazsucki founded the game developer that has made its market value more than that of gaming giants Ubisoft and Electronic Arts in 2004 with help of his partner, Erik Cassel. BBC News touts the tween and teen's game "the world's largest user-generated games site".
Giving its players the ability to parade around their own curated reality as customizable avatars, the game's popularity swept across the globe's adolescence, with the influx of users skyrocketing 85%.
"It is a bit of a marketplace where you can pick and choose whether you play an adventure game, a shooter or a puzzle," senior games analyst at Ampere Research, Louise Shorthouse elaborates to BBC News, "And a lot of it is free to play, which is good for children."
The company could have quarantine to thank, as it celebrated its over 150 million monthly active users in the year 2020, accumulating around 32.6 million daily active users. A great deal of the corporation's revenue comes from in-game purchases through forms of virtual currency. Forbes reports over $328 million last year in Roblox's profit using this method.
Now, as investors see the trajectory of online platforms such as YouTube becoming money gold mines, the stock market looks to Roblox as their next shoe-in business venture. With shares staring at $69.50 a piece (growing from last year's $45), Roblox's market cap zoomed to $38.62 billion in a matter of hours.
"Roblox’s IPO is waking up investors, global consumer brands and top entertainment companies," CEO of game developing company Ganefam, Joseph Ferencz tells Forbes, "to the fact that Roblox is now a must-have component of brand experience. It's a pop culture phenomenon built to last."
As the never ending quarantine continues to glue the world most impressionable demographic in front of their computers, investors are sure to continue funneling money into entertainment businesses that most appeal to them - making creators like Baszucki more money than they can count.
SOURCES: Roblox Corp, CNBC, BBC,
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