Second Life Produces Its First Millionaire

Still think Second Life is just a game? Rob Hof's Businessweek blog, The Tech Beat, reports that Anshe Chung, Second Life's virtual land baroness, has become the first millionaire in Second Life - in real US dollars - from profits entirely earned inside a virtual world. She parlayed her fortune from a $9.95 investment in a Second Life account two years ago.

Here's her press release , which notes that she's holding a news conference tomorrow, in Mengjing @ Second Life and that she "will have to prioritize media requests." Says her release:

"...Her goal is not merely to build a corporation, but to foster the development and growth of online communities, and to help make the entry of real world corporations into Second Life and other regions of the metaverse as frictionless as possible. It is her philosophy that Second Life is above all a social space, and that corporate entrants that respect the community will be the most successful."

"Anshe Chung's achievement should not be belittled, and I tip my hat. However, her Second Life empire is somewhat less liquid that the write up implies; her holdings are so vast that she would not be able to sell them quickly, so for now her fortune is still virtual.

In Second Life we are all kind of holding our virtual breathes to see what happens when Anshe Chung does decide to cash out.

At any rate, she has certainly proved that it can be done! Brava!"