What Richard Garfield Sold and to Whom
Richard Garfield created Magic: The Gathering and sold the trading card game business to Hasbro in 1999 through a deal that included Wizards of the Coast, the company he had co-founded and that had already acquired the game's publisher. Hasbro acquired Wizards of the Coast for about 325 million dollars in cash and stock, a transaction that brought Magic: The Gathering under the same corporate umbrella as brands like Dungeons & Dragons. The sale made Garfield one of the most recognized figures in tabletop gaming and gave Hasbro a flagship digital and physical card property that would later drive major esports and media expansions.
Before the Hasbro acquisition, Garfield had already profited from Wizards of the Coast's growth, including its earlier purchase of the Magic IP and related assets from the original publisher. Wizards of the Coast had been founded in 1990 and grew rapidly after Magic launched in 1993, eventually becoming the dominant brand in collectible card games and a major platform for organized play, tournaments, and licensed products. The 1999 sale to Hasbro marked the end of Garfield's direct operational control, though he retained advisory and creative roles and continued to design new sets and game systems under Wizards of the Coast and later Hasbro subsidiaries.
Financial Terms and Deal Structure
The Hasbro acquisition of Wizards of the Coast was valued at roughly 325 million dollars, a figure that included cash, stock, and assumed liabilities, and it covered the entire Wizards business, not just Magic: The Gathering. Within that business, Magic was the primary revenue driver, supported by booster pack sales, tournament operations, and a growing collector market that expanded in the years following the deal. While the exact split of the purchase price attributable to Magic alone was not disclosed, analysts and industry reports have consistently identified Magic as the crown jewel of the Wizards portfolio that justified much of the acquisition cost.
Post-acquisition, Wizards of the Coast continued to operate as a Hasbro subsidiary, with Garfield remaining involved in design and creative direction while Hasbro managed publishing, manufacturing, and global distribution. The structure allowed Hasbro to leverage Magic's brand across toys, video games, and entertainment partnerships, while Wizards retained its internal teams and continued to release new card sets on a regular schedule. Financial details of any additional earnouts, royalties, or long-term compensation Garfield received beyond the initial sale have not been fully disclosed, but the deal is widely cited as one of the most valuable exits in tabletop gaming history.
Impact on the Trading Card Game Market
Magic: The Gathering became the benchmark for collectible card games after its launch, and the Hasbro acquisition accelerated investments in digital versions, organized play programs, and cross-media storytelling that expanded the game's audience worldwide. The sale also set a precedent for valuing intellectual property in gaming, showing that a single game system could anchor a company and justify a multi-hundred-million-dollar transaction when paired with strong community engagement and recurring revenue streams.
Today, Magic remains one of the highest-grossing trading card franchises globally, with Wizards of the Coast publishing new sets, running major events, and supporting a secondary market where individual cards can sell for thousands or even millions of dollars in rare cases. The business model that Garfield pioneered, combining randomized packs with competitive play and collector incentives, has influenced countless successors in both physical and digital card games, and the Hasbro ownership has kept the brand at the center of gaming industry strategy. For more details on the acquisition and Wizards of the Coast's role in the gaming industry, see the relevant Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast disclosures available at https://www.hasbro.com and https://www.wizards.com.