Demis Hassabis

The founder did everything possible to persuade him not to go.

He writes out a check for 500,000 pounds to get him to work on Bullfrog's next game.

Keep in mind, this is a poor 17 or 18 year old at the time.

He does not have money.

That amount of money would be 1.7 million in today's money.

And Demis refuses.

And so while at college, he's thinking about what he wants to do for his life.

At some time, he gets really interested in theoretical physics.

But then again, this is so important to understanding just how competitive he is.

He realizes he can't go into a career in theoretical physics and says when he signed up for a game, he liked to feel that he could win.

And physics seemed like a long shot.

And one of the most fascinating things about Demis is that he's insanely competitive, but unbelievably kind and nice and approachable.

And so the author is struck by this and he asks him about this.

He goes, one day I asked Demis about his friendly approachability.

Demis says, I've always tried to live like that.

It is a very deep personal philosophy.

I think it's just my personality.

I want to help people.

And I feel very strongly that it's really bad to manipulate or control people.

And so at this point, Demis is building his worldview.