Dmitri Bukhman co-founded Playrix with his brother Igor after the pair began selling games online from their hometown in northern Russia, building a bootstrapped mobile-gaming company that later became one of the industry's largest private publishers. [1][2][3]
Playrix grew from a small self-funded start
Forbes says Dmitri and Igor Bukhman grew up in Vologda in a household where money was tight, and that the brothers began writing and selling software before Dmitri had finished high school. [1][2]
The brothers formally established Playrix in 2004 after using an old computer supplied by their grandfather and reinvesting early software income into the business. Forbes says the company was bootstrapped without outside investment. [2]
Playrix's own history shows the company moving from PC puzzle games into social games and then mobile free-to-play titles, with Township, Fishdom, Gardenscapes and Homescapes becoming major releases. [3]
Mobile scale turned founder equity into a multibillion-dollar fortune
Forbes says the brothers together retained a 96% stake while Playrix grew into one of the world's largest mobile-game companies, with billions of dollars in annual revenue and a large international workforce. [2][1]
Dmitri's fortune is therefore primarily founder-created through software development, retained ownership and the global scaling of Playrix. His financially constrained upbringing strengthens the self-made case, although the evidence does not establish the kind of severe deprivation required for the top score. [2][1]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 25, 2026.
- Dmitri Bukhman · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
- This Russia-Born Billionaire Owns One Of The World's Largest Game Developers · Forbes · Mar 31, 2022
- Press Kit · Playrix
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