Kriti Mehrotra
If there is one thing absolutely no one can deny, it’s that Henk Brouwer Rogers is the reason the simple yet incredible nostalgic video game of Tetris is arguably the most popular ever to exist. After all, as carefully examined in Apple TV+’s ‘Tetris,’ he managed to secure its worldwide console rights back in 1989 before distributing it to the masses through his affiliation with Nintendo. So now, if you simply wish to learn more about him — with a particular focus on his background, his career trajectory, as well as his overall net worth — we’ve got the necessary details for you.
How Did Henk Rogers Earn His Money?
It was back when Henk was merely a child growing up in The Netherlands that he fell in love with every kind of game, puzzle, and computation, just for it to continue evolving as the years passed. “I played with Lego a lot as a child,” he once candidly stated before adding he really enjoyed the imaginative aspect it consistently prompted, even if he didn’t consciously realize it at the time. He then “graduated to Monopoly and Go,” which ostensibly happened to be near the time the entire family relocated to New York for good around the mid-1960s — he was only a preteen at 11.
New York — Stuyvesant High School to be precise — is actually where Henk admittedly discovered computer programming, just to grow so captivated he chose to base his whole career on it. However, he did not graduate from this specialized school of mathematics, science, and technology as he felt he’d already learned everything he needed to prior to completing his senior year. He eventually obtained his basic education in the city before enrolling at the University of Hawaii to gain further knowledge in Computer Science alone, yet he didn’t graduate from there either.
Instead, believing he’d never need a piece of paper as a degree to justify his qualifications, Henk ended up following his family as well as the love of his life Akemi to her homeland of Japan in 1976. That’s where he worked at his father’s gem company for six years before getting inspired by the global rise of personal computers to blend his own passions for games and technology. This ultimately resulted in him creating the nation’s first major role-playing game, The Black Onyx, which sparked such a frenzy that approximately 30% of all Japanese games are now role-playing ones.
Henk subsequently established the Bullet-Proof Software publishing company to market his product design, only to soon begin traveling the world looking for new games to license and distribute. He thus came across Tetris in 1988, the easy functionality of which made him determined to do everything in his power to obtain its rights — something he succeeded in doing the following year. Then came the still-thriving Tetris Company, an organization he carefully launched alongside the game’s creator Alexey Pajitnov to manage its licenses; he serves as its President to this day.
Henk was even the CEO & Founder of Blue Lava Wireless for three years from 2002 onwards, but a near-fatal heart attack in 2005 drove him to realize his purpose and build Blue Planet Foundation. This non-profit organization actually aims to implement renewable energy policies to ensure the end of carbon-based fuel usage across the United States of America, including all its minor territories. He actively served as its Founder & Chairman until 2022, just to establish Blue Planet Energy and take on the role of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with a similar goal the same year.
Though in between this period, Henk even served as the Chairman of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) from 2014 to 2022 — he has hence since stepped into the world of clean energy, space exploration, and philanthropy too. In fact, the Dutch-born entrepreneur as well as visionary is currently the Chairman & Founder of Avatar Reality, CEO of Blue Planet Research, CEO & Founder of Blue Planet Software, Director of PISCES, Founder of Blue Startups, Director of American Renewable Energy Institute (AREI), and Founder & Director of International MoonBase Alliance (IMA).
Henk Rogers’ Net Worth
Considering the fact Henk has founded ten organizations to this day, has 100% solar homes in both Hawaii as well as New York, and continues to travel for work, it is evident he’s very well off. A majority of his earnings are seemingly from Tetris and The Black Onyx, but the fact he is still actively pursuing his dream of having a positive impact on the world is a significant facet as well. Therefore, as per our best estimates, the trailblazing video game developer, renewable energy advocate, and space exploration entrepreneur has a net worth of at least $50 million as of writing.
Read More: What is Alexey Pajitnov’s Net Worth?
