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Business Week cover

Within 30 months, Anshe Chung turned her initial investment of $9.95 for a Second Life account into more than $1 million in real money from profits earned entirely inside a virtual world, according to Chung's website (via CNNMoney.com).

Featured on the cover of Business Week Magazine, Chung amassed her wealth primarily buying and developing virtual real-estate in the online world's official currency, known as Linden Dollars, which is convertible to U.S. dollars. The fortune that Anshe Chung commands in Second Life includes virtual real estate that is equivalent to 36 square kilometers of land - "property" supported by 550 servers, or land "simulators."

Chung has "cash" holdings of several million Linden Dollars, several virtual shopping malls and virtual store chains, and she has established several virtual brands in Second Life. Chung also has significant virtual stock market investments in Second Life companies.

Her operations have since grown to include the development and sale of properties for large-scale real-world corporations, and have led to a real-life spin-off corporation called Anshe Chung Studios, which develops immersive 3D environments for applications ranging from education to business conferencing and product prototyping.