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Supercell co-founders top Finland’s highest-earners list

Ilkka Paananen and Mikko Kodisoja top

Supercell co-founders top Finland’s highest-earners list

Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen has been named the highest-earning person in Finland for 2018.

As reported by Yle, the Finnish mobile game studio’s top boss took home a combined income and capital income of €110 million ($122 million).

In second place, was Supercell co-founder and game lead Mikko Kodisoja who accumulated €98 million ($109 million).

Information on the wealthiest citizens in the country is revealed on ‘tax day’, an annual publication of tax data released by Finland’s Tax Administration.

This year was the first time that some affluent Finnish residents were granted exemptions to keep their names off of the list, with 231 people being removed as a result.

The tax rate on personal income in Finland is currently 51 percent.

Giving it away

When Tencent acquired its majority shareholding in Supercell in 2015, Paananen, Kodisoja and Supercell executive Lassi Leppinen founded the the charitable Me Foundation.

Funded with €200 million from that deal, its goals are to diminish social equality and the exclusion of children, youth, and families in Finland.

Supercell has also always highlighted its 'pro-tax' status as it doesn't make use of tax avoidance schemes. 

The company generated $1.6 billion in revenue in 2018, while profits before tax stood at $635 million. It paid $122 million tax on that profit. 


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Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.