Jon Jacobs is one of the more popular folks of the Entropia Universe, thanks to his virtual venture, Club NeverDie. From the looks of it, the gamble paid off and although Entropia's cash card scheme was cancelled, Jacobs still has a lot of things to smile about in Entropia.

He has just announced that he won one of the first five virtual bank licenses for US$ 90,000. This new venture will specialize in short-term bridging loans to help finance avatars building virtual manufacturing and constructions. The auction started last February, with the price starting at US$ 0.10 and climbing to US$ 99,000. When asked for his reaction, Jon Jacobs had this to say:

We had a ball! The auction came to a close to virtual cheers, dancing and champagne popping when the more than 125 visitors to Club NeverDie’s VIP bar got the official word that Anshe Chung and I scored two of the coveted five banks on the block. We gamers achieved victory!

Whether or not this new gamble pays off, well we don't know. But heck, that's open for speculation.

Some of the greatest, perhaps even the wisest, minds in the universe will get a chance to be some of the coolest people in an entirely different universe. MindArk, developers of Entropia Universe will be co-hosting two parties happening simultaneously for Nobel Prize winners: a real-world party, and a completely virtual one.

The event, dubbed the Nobel NightCap, will be held at the Stockholm School of Economics on December 10, and is meant for some very distinguished dignitaries: Nobel Laureates and their guests, members of the Swedish Royal family, the Nobel Foundation, and the Swedish Academy. A virtual NightCap party will be happening concurrently, courtesy of Entropia's Club Neverdie, and will actually be projected on the walls of the real-world party.

Of course, since not everyone is a member of the Swedish Royal Family, Club Neverdie will be free for everyone to get into during the party's proceedings. While you might think of Nobel winners as some kind of intellectual stuffed-shirts, the virtual aspect of it definitely makes the whole deal seem very cool and trippy. If you're feeling up to partying with royalty and intellectuals, you can always join them in virtual body and spirit through the game.

Almost a year after opening the virtual resort Club NEVERDIE, champion gamer-turned-entrepreneur Jon Jacobs is back to gladly report on the success of his business venture.

According to Jacobs, his virtual resort raked in a gross of $100,000 USD in the first eight months of operation alone. "It's a tremendous vindication to reach the break-even mark so fast; very few people really believed a turnkey virtual business inside an MMORPG could do these kind of numbers, but the dynamic real cash economy in Entropia Universe is extremely conducive for operating a business or developing a trade; however, once you have the tools or skills it's really up to the individual to serve the community and develop the business. It's definitely work, but since it exists within a Video Game style world, I'm in my element," says Neverdie.

Having a virtual net worth at an estimated $1 million plus, Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs is unsurprisingly one of the most high-profile Entropia citizens for over three years. Entropia Universe is the only virtual gaming community that actively supports sales of virtual products with actual cash value within its real economy system. The economy offers the user a secure and safe way to make purchases, sales, and exchange real life currency into PED (Project Entropia Dollars) and back again into real money via the real world ATM system, at a fixed exchange rate to the US dollar. The Entropia Universe turnover back in 2005 was an estimated $165,000,000 US.

Club NEVERDIE is located within the Entropia Universe and is a registered trademark of Jon Jacobs. You can visit it via spaceship from the planet calypso or new accounts can be spawned directly at the resort by downloading the Entropia Universe client.