Traveller's Tales managing director earns £100 million

Traveller's Tales' managing director, Jon Burton, will reportedly earn GBP 100 million from the sale of his company.

According to the Manchester Evening News, that's how much Warner Bros. will be paying him over the next five years.

Burton, who set up Traveller's Tales in 1989, owns 80 per cent of the company, with the rest of the shares held by his management team.

"After 18 years in the videogames industry, the opportunity to become a meaningful part of the world's leading entertainment company is the fulfilment of a dream," Burton said.

The Cheshire-based Traveller's Tales has created titles based on Star Wars, Toy Story, The Muppets, Finding Nemo and Sonic the Hedgehog for industry giants such as Sony, Sega, and Pixar.

It was renamed TT Games after merging with publisher Giant Interactive Entertainment in 2005, and has a staff of about 200 people across the country as well as at offices in Ireland and Serbia following two acquisitions.

TT Games' most recent success has been the Lego Star Wars titles. It will soon be releasing Lego games featuring Batman and Indiana Jones, maintaining its relationship with LucasArts as an independent studio.

Warner Brothers has not yet revealed financial details of the acquisition. Despite the Manchester Evening News report, some industry insiders believe that the value of the deal was much greater than GBP 100 million.