Personalities: Anshe Chung

The stories of individuals making good in Second Life are popping up with surprising frequency these days, and one has to wonder how many are fact and how many fiction. The quintessential case in point appears to be Second Life real estate tycoon Anshe Chung (SL name) who along with her husband has successfully created a business that would be envied by most realtors in the 'real world.'

At the time of writing Wikipedia summarizes Chung's accomplishments as:

she has built an online business that engages in development, brokerage and arbitrage of virtual land, items and currencies

While impressive, it warrants reading further to understand the actual power this conveys in a world like Second Life. Business Week speaks to the restrictions she's able to place on those purchasing her land:

Players also wanted neighborhoods that amounted to more than drab slabs of virtual turf, and they wanted some order. So she began creating the equivalent of gated communities, complete with zoning rules. She doesn't allow malls or clubs in certain regions, for instance, and limits the heights of buildings. "She is the government," Rosedale says.

Enough talk, check out the opportunities for yourself at Anshe Chung Studios.