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Buzz Watch: Has Second Life Created Its First Real Life Millionaire from Virtual Real Estate?

Authored by Jay Baage on December 1, 2006 - 11:49am.
Real estate and development magnate Anshe Chung held a press conference in Second Life on Tuesday to discuss her claim that she is the first to have amassed US$1 million worth of assets in Second Life. She is walking a fine line in making that claim, since Second Life residents don’t take lightly to people making false Second Life claims in order to gain PR in the real world. Earlier this month, Dreamland (Second Life’s largest residential project) residents voted to ban public relations firms that made false claims.

During the press conference, Chung talked about how she placed a big bet on the Second Life real estate market with funds she had accumulated since entering the world in 2004, according to Reuters:

“Before November 15th I used profits from this business and made one big investment of 250,000 US$ to expand Dreamland, our largest residential project,” she said . “After November 15th the land market changed, we experience big boom in Second Life now. This has pushed value of my assets above (US$1 million)”

Here at Digital Media Wire, we have had many upset people commenting on our stories about virtual firsts – claiming that they are not actual firsts and just corporate efforts to profit from all the press Second Life is getting.

“There are many RL companies and other organizations coming. I think most of them are very smart and try to have positive impact on the community. … There is also much PR, often very valid and honest PR, also often useful to help people realize opportunity,” Chung said. “But like everywhere there was some who went too far. Companies making first claims about things lesser known community members did before upset many people here,” Chung said.

Anshe Chung Studios has projected Second Life revenues of L$630 million in 2006, according to figures provided by company, equal to about US$2.3 million at Tuesday’s exchange rate. Chung said the Wuhan, China-based company plans to double in size to about 50 employees.

On a personal note, I could care less about who does what first in Second Life, but I’m amazed and impressed by the Second Life phenomenon and I think any real life company that is willing to experiment with virtual marketing and investing deserves recognition. On that note, stay tuned next week for an exclusive Second Life Interview and more.

Have a great weekend.

Joakim Baage

Related Links:
A Gallery Of Virtual Marketing and PR in Second Life
Second Life Takes Off, Gains Interest of Older Generation
Learning the Facts of Second Life
tags: Marketing | Metrics | Second Life | Investments | Buzz watch | Jay | Anshe Chung |



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