Triangle Business Journal sat down with Tim Sweeney, TBJ'S 2021 Business Person of the Year, on a cold November morning outside Epic Games' current headquarters in Cary. Sweeney talked about his personal journey to where he is today, the state of the gaming business, and his relentless resolve to protect forests across the state. But he also answered some quick-hit questions. Here's a sampling.
1. What kind of phone (do you have)? A new iPhone. I'm a heretic, right? I adhere to the faith, but I question the orthodoxy.
2. Are you a gamer yourself? If so, what's your favorite game to play? “Fortnite,” so far.
3. Anything else? No. I'm not much of a gamer, but I've played thousands of hours of “Fortnite.”
4. Favorite city to visit and why? Seoul, South Korea. Just the energy, the excitement and the awesomeKorean barbecue. It makes it irresistible.
5. Do you follow sports at local universities? If so, who? No, not at all. I was a runner from junior high school to high school, becauseI have endurance but no other skill.
6. Last movie seen? It can be streaming, or at the movie theater. “Last of the Mohicans.” Filmed in North Carolina.
7. Last book read? Yeah, that was “The Art of Computer Programming,” by Donald Knuth. It's a five, four-volume set of massively thick books that nobody ever finishes. But I'm starting to figure out some graph algorithm from it.
8. Finish the sentence: The Triangle is in desperate need of ... Hotpot restaurants and Korean barbecue.
9. Biggest regret? I think that things have worked out pretty well for me.
10. Three people you would like to invite for dinner? Sorry, I don't want to try that one.
11. What local executive, if any, have you talked with the most? You know, I have not been at all plugged into the executive community in North Carolina.
12. Would you like to, or is it by choice? I'm pretty solitary. My life is about ideas rather than people.
13. How many hours do you sleep on average? I would say nine hours a night. I need a lot of sleep to function.
