24 Jun, 2010 @ 09:42
1 min read

Not such a trivial life

AN expat former bar owner in Nerja has become a ‘secret millionaire’ after investing money in popular game Trivial Pursuit.

The mystery investor – a Canadian – was persuaded to put 1000 dollars into the fledgling board game project in 1980.

His was one of the last pieces of the pie. Soon enough, the two inventors of the game – journalists Scott Abbott and Chris Haney – had struck a multi-million dollar deal.
The pair, who were also Canadian, had quit their jobs to move to the Costa del Sol and develop the game.

They spent a year finding 33 people to cough up 1000 dollars each.

At least one of them was a Canadian Nerja resident, who was prepared to stump up money for the “harebrained” idea.

According to local journalist David Baird, the mystery backer had met the inventors when they spent two months living at El Capistrano, a resort where Haney’s parents had a villa.

Today the mystery backer, who insists on remaining anonymous, enjoys “a comfortable retirement,” according to Baird, who lives in nearby Frigiliana.

“He was shrewder than anybody realised,” he added. “But he prefers no publicity.”
Decades later almost 100 million versions of the game have been sold across the world.

Sadly, co-creator Haney passed away last week aged just 59.

See how two Nerja hacks made a billion from Trivial Pursuit in The Olive Press feature.

Click here to read more News from The Olive Press.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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