Candy Crushdeveloper King is set make it's debut on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow, with the firm expected to be valued at roughly $7.6 billion when trading starts.
According to Toby Rowland - a former director at King - getting to this point has been anything but easy, despite chatter to the contrary.
"It's not a fairy story," Rowland explained in an interview on King in The Guardian. "There were some very difficult times. But we had a good corporate culture, there was a stoicism in the tough times that was very useful."
Unfortunately, Rowland won't benefit from the firm's flotation, having sold his stake in the company back in 2011 for a respectable $3 million - although those shares would now be worth around $966 million.
Kings of the castle
Those still embedded in the company, however, could make a pretty penny if they choose to sell up in the coming weeks.
King Chairman, Melyvn Morris, owns a reported 36,467,500 shares and would pocket $875 million if he sold off his stake in the firm.
The shares of Riccardo Zacconi, King's chief executive, are valued at $745 million, while CCO Sebastian Knutsson, GM Lars Markgren and COO Stephane Kurgan are all believed to have stakes valued at $422 million, $217 million, and $179 million respectively.
Candy Crush Saga
Of course, those figures could fall dramatically if King starts to stumble on the stock market.
Zacconi, however, has attempted to put any fears to rest by suggesting that King isn't completely reliant on Candy Crush Saga, stating that the firm "has been built for the long haul".
[source: The Guardian]
