'I've never felt more isolated': Billionaire Minecraft creator finds life empty

[Buster's Uncle]

'I've never felt more isolated': The man who sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion reveals the empty side of success
Business Insider
By Julie Bort  10 hours ago



Markus Persson.  (Sklathill / Flickr)



It's the dream of many a startup founder: Make something people love and wind up wildly rich, selling the company for billions.

But after you do that, what comes next? It could be a sense of hopeless isolation.

So says Minecraft founder Markus Persson (aka "Notch") in a strangely revealing series of tweets.

Microsoft bought Minecraft for $2.5 billion almost a year ago, and the founder did not join Microsoft after the sale.

Persson certainly looked like he was having a blast, living the big life. He bought a $70 million mansion, complete with a massive wall of candy, and has been hosting wild parties ever since.

But he's really bored and deeply lonely, he revealed in a series of tweets.

"The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance," he tweeted.

"Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated."

Here's the whole tweet string:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ive-never-felt-more-isolated-153600734.html


Not here, but at the link...

[Yitzi]

Maybe he needs to try making another game...

[Buster's Uncle]

Could be.

I get that being that disgustingly rich paints a huge target on your back, but it's still the kind of problem you want to have.  He has a lot of options, is all.

[benschwab]

The problem with the story The Prince and The Pauper is that the Pauper would much rather have the problems the Prince faces and would refuse to switch.  Yes, everybody has problems but not everybody's problems are equal.

Perhaps having a giant wall of candy and having several superficial parties is not a way to make good personal connections with others.  <sarcasm>I'm shocked, absolutely shocked</sarcasm>.  It's clear that Mr. Persson doesn't have everything he wants and ha has reasons to keep trying.  Plenty of rich people have meaningful personal relationships.  This is a problem that Mr. Persson hasn't found a solution to yet but it's not something I will lose any sleep over.

[Green1]

True. But, the pauper is free of the employer or landlord with the Prince's cash. That, is a huge burden lifted that the Prince would run screaming from.

But, here's the deal. Money just makes you more of what you already are. You can be homeless and feel empty just as you can be a gazillionaire and feel empty. Difference is, the rich dude has more options and less barriers to find what he seeks including meaningful relations and not just fanbois and gold diggers.

[Buster's Uncle]

...And it turned out that what he wanted was not what he needed...

[Green1]

Also, the wild party deal gets old. I had a short stint with this in my younger years before a bit of grey appeared in my neckbeard stubble. You have all these "friends" who are only your friend because they are smoking your dope and drinking your beer (damn them!). Ladies that are bopping you not because you necessarily turn them on but because of resources.

But, even the big stars eventually move on. Either that, or they kill themselves. Fun times are nice. But, you really got to have some purpose and stimulation as well.

He will probably make a new company.

[Buster's Uncle]

One can only hope.

But yeah; we weren't built for easy times, and that's a problem most everyone gets if they achieve sufficient success.  He's George Harrison, who used to be in one of the Beatles; what now?

Gotta have goals.

[benschwab]

Green1:

I agree with you completely.  I don't have your experience except through literature but still...

But yeah; we weren't built for easy times...

I could argue that we weren't built for hard times either.  I actually think that there are people (mostly through nurture but I'm willing to accept a nature explanation) who are comfortable with easy times, people who are comfortable with hard times, people who are comfortable with both, and people who are comfortable with neither.    I haven't thought about the Green1's principle "Money just makes you more of what you already are," but knowing what little I know, it makes a lot of sense.  I need to ponder it.  People, at any rate, are complicated and some people adapt well to wealth or leisure and others don't.

I will say that people will always have problems.  There isn't a society, or a personal philosophy, or material conditions, or anything else that will save an individual human being from having problems.  There are choices of what problems people (as a group or individually) have but, at-best, there is some trade off between problems that people can chose.  Mr. Persson has better tools to deal with his problems than I have to deal with mine and most people I know have to deal with theirs.  I'm not going to be concerned for Mr. Persson's welfare as an individual mater.

[Buster's Uncle]

...My heart goes out to him.  Maybe his problem is really that he sucks, but it's still a real problem.  Much as he needs to, I'm not getting in line to tell him to man up and DO something with the rest of his life.  He's ultimately going to have to work that out for himself...

[Green1]

Well, it is not so much "hard times". Being oppressed or mistreated on a daily basis having to struggle for mere necessities can really wear, even if it can make you have a more realistic perspective more privileged have trouble comprehending. Some people it does the opposite of "build character" and can contribute to addictions, depression, and all other matter of bugs if they let it or are not insightful enough.

It is not so much being hard or easy, but "purpose" and dare I say "passion". Difficulty settings do have some bearing but not much. It should be at least somewhat engaging, though.   

[Buster's Uncle]

...A lot of people just work on getting richer, which strikes me as empty, but is certainly better than not having anything to get out of bed and do...

[JamesGoblin]

There is so much he could do, enough for ten lifetimes - I have in mind helping others and sharing.

But he seems to have, well, somewhat hedonistic approach - it's bound to  lead to that feeling of despair and loneliness after the party is over.

[Buster's Uncle]

"You may find" as Mr. Spock once said, "the having not so pleasing as the wanting."