Shi Yuzhu had already lost one fortune before he made his second in video games. His Shanghai company, Giant Interactive, ran ZT Online, a sprawling fantasy war game that cost nothing to join. Players paid for the gear, potions and status that helped them win. Millions of them did. When Giant listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2007, it raised $887 million, the largest US listing by a private Chinese company up to then.

Free to Enter, Paid to Win

Most online games of the era charged players by the hour or the month. ZT Online, known in Chinese as Zhengtu, let anyone in for free. Giant made its money selling virtual items inside the game, from stronger armor to faster mounts. The model fit China, where many players gamed in internet cafes and few wanted a monthly bill. It turned a Shanghai studio founded in 2004 into one of China's biggest online game companies by 2007.

Fifteen Fifty, Then Twelve

Giant priced its shares at $15.50, above the $12 to $14 range it had marketed, and sold them as American Depositary Shares under the ticker GA. The stock closed its first day 17.6 percent higher, at $18.23. The glow faded as newer games competed for the same players and growth slowed. In 2014, Shi teamed up with Baring Private Equity Asia and Hony Capital to buy out the public holders at $12 a share, a deal worth about $3 billion.

Cover: Dancing Giant, from Disparates, published as plate 4 in Los Proverbios, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a giant dancing (the company's name).