Who is Alex Butler? Seattle Teenager Becomes Millionaire After Selling Card Game He Invented at 7

International Business Times

5 days ago

Alex Butler, 15, became a millionaire by selling a card game he invented when he was seven years old. The Seattle teenager reportedly sold his invention to a major toy company last month. Wisconsin-based company PlayMonster bought the game from the teen boy in a cash deal.
It is unclear how much Alex earned through selling his game, Taco vs Burrito, which allows players to compete to create the most valuable meal. He is apparently working with his parents, Leslie Pierson and Mark Butler, to invest the money. The teenager said he would like to buy a Lamborghini for his family, who helped him with the invention.
"It was never something that I've been attached to or anything. It's not super important to me. I just kind of wanted to get the most money out of it", the Seattle Times quoted Alex.
The Beginning
Alex randomly decided to create a game after spending time playing card games, like Exploding Kittens, with his family. When the teenager decided to invent a card game, he did not like tacos or burritos, the teenager recalled.
Initially, his mother helped him with the project. When the boy approached her with the idea, she decided to play along, thinking that her son would eventually lose interest. To her surprise, Butler never gave up on his project. Instead, he took his parents to the local coffee shops to test out the early prototypes for his game.
His mother, who has been part of several projects, including GoodHangUps, which she promoted on Shark Tank in 2016, said her son would come up with a new twist or idea to add to his game on their way back home. Gradually, Alex started playing the card game with other people, including his friends.
When Leslie Pierson, who calls herself a serial entrepreneur, saw that her son was taking his project seriously, she began an online fundraiser to cover the cost of production. After a day of opening the fundraiser, Pierson asked her son to guess the amount they raised in a day. Butler suspected nearly $200, but it was over $1,000.
"He lost it, mind blown", Pierson said.
Alex Butler Facebook
The Expansion
Alex and his parents decided to take the game to the next level after raising $25,000 from the fundraiser and through some promotions at a Comic Con in Seattle. His parents created a company called Hot Taco Inc. to run the business smoothly, and the teenager owned most of its shares until PlayMonster bought the card game.
His parents then chose a manufacturer that, according to his mother, treated her son like an adult. They put products worth $25,000 to $30,000 on Amazon. When the first batch sold out like hot cakes, they kept refilling the shells and made nearly $1.1 million by the end of the year. The Taco vs. Burrito card game once became a bestseller on Amazon, and the teenager sold over 1.5 million copies of it.
Taco vs Burrito card game. Facebook
Eventually, his mother realized that it was not easy for her small team to handle this business. So, Alex's parents began their search for a company that would take the game to the next level. Though they received several offers for buyouts, his parents chose PlayMonster, which owns games, such as 5 Second Rule and Farkle.
Pierson said the company's vision for her son's game helped her make the final decision, and her son agreed to a complete buyout.
Meanwhile, the CEO of PlayMonster, Jonathan Berkowitz, said the characters of this game attracted him. People of all age groups can play it.
"It's always fun when kids can beat their parents in a game, but the parents can still truly enjoy playing", he said.
In Taco vs Burrito, the player can create the most expensive meal, with wild cards, modifiers, and ingredients. There are a few cards, such as tummy ache, that subtract the player's points. At the end of the game, the player with the most points becomes the winner.