Newsweek called him "Facebook's Russian Sugar Daddy" after his company, DST, engineered at least a half-billion-dollar stake. Forbes put the numbers even higher this month - an $800 million investment now worth as much as $7 billion.
Like Pincus, Milner is personally worth $1 billion, tying them with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and about 70 others around the globe, Forbes estimated.
Tens of millions of people play such Zynga games as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, CityVille and Cafe World, which have been wildly popular on Facebook.
After naming the start-up after his bulldog, Chicago-born Pincus, 45, began raking in the chips with Texas Hold'Em Poker. Basically, the games are free but forking over real cash lets players advance more quickly - rising in the Mafia ranks, for example - or buy swankier stuff, like pink tractors.
That was a half-billion-dollar revenue stream last year, according to industry estimates.For virtual poker chips, pink tractors and their ilk.
Major credit cards accepted.
Offices have sprung up from Maryland to India and China, and rumors are that the company could go public this year, which would really put the zing - and ka-ching - in Zynga.
Skeptics doubt how long players will stay faithful, but Zynga keeps introducing new games - FishVille or FrontierVille, anyone? - and has been adding games for smartphones and iPads.
Another rumor: Zynga's working on its own game-playing site.
Even Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, was envious, declaring last year that if he began a new career, "I said I would like to be Mark Pincus. . . . He has nailed the next killer app."
Pincus called Milner "a trusted adviser," who visited monthly "to give input, but it's a soft touch," according to Businessweek last year.
