Adrian Carmack

Adrian Carmack (born May 5, 1969) is one of the four founders of id Software, along with Tom Hall, John Romero, and John Carmack. He had worked there as an artist. He was a major shareholder of id Software until he left the company.

Adrian Carmack left id Software in 2005. At the time, the press was told he felt he had done all he could do in the gaming field and was planning to concentrate on his art. However, in September 2005, the Wall Street Journal revealed that he was taking his former business partners to court, claiming he was effectively fired by them in an attempt to force him to sell his 41% stake in the company for $11 million under the terms of a contract he wants the court to nullify. $11 million is thought to be a fraction of the true value of his stake, which is thought to be closer to $43 million after the company received a $105 million bid from Activision in 2004. The parties settled out of court.

Carmack is no longer involved in the games industry, and was last seen in 2014 buying (and later selling in 2018 for a profit) The Heritage, a five-star hotel in Laois County, Ireland.