Word: wendels
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When your parents told you that playing video games would never lead to anything, they should have hedged their warning: video games won't lead to anything unless you're really, really good at them. Johnathan Wendel, better known on the Internet by his gaming handle, Fatal1ty (note the 1 for extra cybercred), is that good. He's so good that at 22 he is among the first people in the history of civilization to make a living as a professional video-game player...
...Wendel grew up in Kansas City, Mo., where he was nothing like the quintessentially nerdy mouse jockey you're probably picturing. He was actually kind of a jock: he played baseball, football, golf, hockey, tennis, whatever. But it was in video games that he stood out. "When I was 12 to 15 years old, I went to arcades a lot and played Mortal Kombat 2 religiously," he says. "I used to bet against other guys who thought they were the big dogs, and I usually took home about $50 a night. For a 13-year-old, that...
When Fatal1ty got involved with Quake, an ultraviolent action game you can play online, his price tag got bigger. Quake had an active, organized Internet community that held real-world tournaments. By 1999, when Wendel was 18, he was splitting his time among gaming, attending school and waiting tables. Wendel's parents weren't quite as excited about his career as he was--"I think I spent most of my teenage life grounded from the computer," he says--but he convinced them the old-fashioned way: with cold cash. When he placed third at a major tournament in Dallas...
...Seillière's destiny took a sudden turn in 1978: the family holding company Marine-Wendel, shaken by the collapse of the steel industry, turned to him to restore its shattered fortunes. Seillière transformed the creaky industrial artifact into a modern conglomerate with interests ranging from information technology and Internet services to energy, real estate and auto parts. In less than 25 years, he multiplied the company's worth 90-fold to some $1.25 billion...
...stormy meeting last week, Rochet asked the two investor groups for yet another cash injection to fund the $400 million salvage plan. SAirGroup said it would do so only if Marine-Wendel shared the cost. But Seillière's team was unwavering: "It is out of the question that we pay one more franc." With no serious buyers in sight, Rochet seemed ready to throw in the towel and declare bankruptcy. Some analysts predicted that the threat of an imminent liquidation - which could cost the investors at least $800 million - might finally convince SAirGroup to finance the bailout alone...