2021 was an important year for Maksim Gavrilenko. That year he moved to Scotland from Ukraine and attended Lomond School, a prestigious boarding school on the west coast of the country. He also bought a Minecraft server back then. He and his friends wanted to play the popular computer game on it, the price for the server was 1000 pounds (about 1160 euros).
Gavrilenko is now 17 years old and a wealthy young man for his age – thanks to his server. What started as a hobby turned out to be an extremely profitable business model. Gavrilenko and his friends gradually expanded the platform, more and more online gamers became aware of it and eventually also advertisers. So the server became more and more valuable. In May, Gavrilenko and his two business partners sold the server, Lomond School reports on its website.
The Ukrainian does not say exactly how high the price was. According to his school’s report, the offer was “very lucrative”. The 17-year-old should therefore be on at least a solid financial basis. Boarding school director Johanna Urquhart praised his “dedication and enthusiasm” and was “thrilled by his achievement at such a young age”.
Maksim Gavrilenko left his homeland even before Russia attacked Ukraine. With the money he earned, he wants to help his family who are suffering from the war. “Because of the war, my mother had to flee her home and became homeless. Buying her an apartment was worth all the hours of work on this project,” he said. According to the “Independent”, his mother is currently living in Portugal with friends. Gavrilenko wants to find her somewhere near him as soon as possible. His grandparents still live in Kiev, but don’t want to leave the Ukrainian capital. His sister is also still in Ukraine because her husband was drafted into the military.
Gavrilenko has completed his two-year program at the boarding school and is now awaiting the results of the exams. After that, he would like to study business administration at a university. He is not only a passionate gamer, but is also very interested in the economic and entrepreneurial acceptance of online games. Headmistress Urquhart is certain: “I have no doubt that this will not be the last we hear about Maksim’s company.”
Sources: Lomond School / “Independent”
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