"Second Life" land barons: How to make money the new-fashioned way

Second Life’s owner, Linden Lab, makes money by selling land plots and islands. An island runs about $1,000, a high barrier of entry for most Second Life users. But to open a strip mall, dance club or office tower, or to build a home, avatars need land. Some Second Life users have taken on Donald Trump-like personas, buying land from Second Life and then leasing plots to small-business owners or would-be homeowners, or flipping their properties as speculators…

The other day, standing on the beach of a private island he shares with his real-world girlfriend, Williams — through his avatar, named Ray Burdeyna — told a story that sounded very much like Trump’s: He started off small, buying land plots here and there. He saved enough money to buy his first island. Then he started leasing out spaces. That led to more island purchases, and now he owns 100 islands. Each of his holdings generates about $85 a week in rent. He pays for his health insurance and runs his business from a room in his Chesterfield, Va., apartment — two computers tuned in to Second Life, a third to his music.

“I make a lot more money doing this than working at Circuit City, that’s for sure,” said Burdeyna, strolling on his island near a yacht his girlfriend bought him for Christmas. He looked out of place on his beach; after all, he was wearing a shirt and tie. Burdeyna said he put it on for his interview with The Washington Post, and then he invited one of his tenants, who runs a virtual club from his physical home in the Netherlands, to drop by.