John Carmack is the lead programmer and co-founder of Id Software, a high-profile video game development company, and one of a very few programmers who has become a celebrity, at least within the gaming community.
Carmack's skills enabled the development of the seminal first person shooter games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake,amongst others. Whilst Carmack did not actually invent any specifically new techniques, his game "engines" have been able to take maximum advantage of the developments in PC hardware quicker than other developers.
He owns more than one Ferrari. He is also a rocketry enthusiast and the founder of Armadillo Aerospace.