FORBES.COM DECEMBER 31, 20 19JUDGES, GAMES: FACEBOOK; AILEENA XU, PRESIDENT OF ESPORTS, TSM (UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2019). STEPHANIE BARISH, FOUNDER, INDIECADE; MATT BOOTY, CORPORATE VICE PRESIDENT, XBOX GAME STUDIOS; JASON RUBIN, VICE PRESIDENT, SPECIAL GAMING INITIATIVES, FINANCE: BILL ACKMAN, FOUNDER, PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT; SONIA GARDINER,
COFOUNDER, AVENUE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT; EDDIE BROWN, FOUNDER, BROWN CAPITAL; MATTHEW HUMPHREY, COFOUNDER, LENDINGHOME (UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2017).
JUSTIN STANDER WEARS A DAVID HART BLACK-AND-WHITE WOOL JACKET, MAVI DENIM TRACK PANTS, AND A NORDSTROM SIGNATURE MERINO TURTLENMAGDALENA KALA WEARS A L’AGENCE GREEN VELVET JACKET. ECK SHIRT.FINANCE
MAGDALENA KALA, 2 9
VICE PRESIDENT, BAIN CAPITALMagdalena Kala, a vice president at private equity giant Bain Capi-
tal, recently dyed her hair red to match the branding of Virgin Voyag-
es. The new $3 billion cruise-line venture between Bain and billion-
aire Richard Branson is looking to rock the industry’s boat—swapping
fl oating theme parks for grown-up vessels (no children allowed), fea-
turing modern design, high-end restaurants, rollicking nightlife, ro-
bust fi tness programs and even tattoo parlors. Kala is an observer of
the Virgin Voyages’ board, heads partnerships with brands like Vir-
gin Atlantic and Delta and is helping run its customer-targeting strat-
egy and social media infl uencer campaigns. Raised in a Polish farming
village with dreams of an American education, Kala emailed 270 U.S.
boarding schools for a scholarship, landing at Pennsylvania’s Mercers-
burg Academy and later Harvard. “I grew up right after communism
ended, so being scrappy was very much a part of my childhood.”
—Michael del Castillo, Antoine Gara, Jeff Kaufl in, Nathan VardiJUSTIN STANDER, 2 6
FOUNDER, ASKIISOFTNot all heroes wear capes. The protagonist of
Justin Stander’s hit action game Katana ZERO
is a bathrobe-wearing samurai with a penchant
for synth-driven ’80s music. Stander’s highly
rated, independent game has, in less than a year,
sold 500,000 copies, generating $5 million in
sales—a blockbuster in the indie market where
the average game makes $16,000. For a 26-year-old, Stander has been at this for a long time. At
16 he released a free Web game, Tower of Heaven.
Stander started to develop Katana at McGill Uni-
versity, taking freelance game-design gigs to help
fund what he thought would be a two-year project.
Instead it took fi ve years. “There were an innu-
merable amount of days that I woke up, worked,
went to sleep, and that was it,” says Stander. He is
developing new story lines, game levels and other
add-ons to keep Katana, available on PC, Mac and
Nintendo Switch, current—and selling. —Kenrick
Cai, Matt Perez122
KEZIA ADAMO, 27
Programmer, StudioMDHR
NICK AMYOONY, 24
Professional gamer, Nick Eh 30
BRENT BATAS, 29;
JULIAN GARI, 28
Cofounders, AutoAtt ack Games
JOSEPH BENTLEY, 27
Head of Beyond Entertainment,
Logitech
JUSTIN BRITCH, 27
Head of development, Obsidian
Entertainment
MAXX BURMAN, 29
Cofounder, KitBash3d
BONNIE BURTON, 28
Producer, Bungie
STEPHEN ELLIS, 28;
DAVID STEINBERG, 27
Cofounders, Pipeline
REBECCA FORD, 29
Live operations and community
director, Digital Extremes
LAUREN GABA FLANAGAN, 29
Cofounder, Theorycraft
KYLE GIERSDORF, 17
Professional gamer, Sentinels
RENEE GITTINS, 29
Executive director, IGDA
RICHARD HENKEL, 28
Product lead, Riot Games
KYLE HOLDWICK, 29
Senior gameplay engineer,
thatgamecompany
MARY KENNEY, 28
Writer, Insomniac Games
NICOLE LAPOINTE
JAMESON, 25
CEO, Evil Geniuses
KEIZAC LEE, 25
Partner, Kowloon Nights
DOMINIQUE MCLEAN, 21
Professional gamer, Echo Fox
SHAYNA MOON, 28
Associate producer,
Santa Monica Studio
SPENCER PERREAULT, 29
Principal soft ware engineer,
Microsoft
JASMINE ROBERTS, 27
Adjunct professor,
New York University
SAM ROSENTHAL, 28
Founder, The Game Band
KETAKI SHRIRAM, 28
Cofounder, Krikey
JUSTIN STANDER, 26
Founder, Askiisoft
JAMES SUN, 24
Senior product manager, Twitch
HANAKO TJIA, 27
Agent, UTA
RUMAY WANG, 28
Professional gamer, G2 Esports
SOLEIL WHEELER, 14
Professional gamer, FaZe Clan
CARRIE WITT, 29
Art director, Owlchemy Labs
ZHENGHUA YANG, 29
Founder, Serenity ForgeGAMES