A Massachusetts businessman, Mark E. Thomas, who had made a $100,000 investment in Midway Games Inc in November, acquiring an 87 percent stake in the company, has managed an unbelievable 4,900 percent return on his eight-month investment - securing almost $5 million from Midway's sale to Warner Bros.!

In November last year, Thomas had bought his shares in Midway - the bankrupt Chicago game publisher - from the cash-strapped media mogul Sumner Redstone, who divested himself of his holdings in order to claim a $700 million 2008 tax write-off.

The news of the whopping gain by Thomas came to light on Thursday, via the documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The documents said that Thomas - who was virtually an inexperienced hand at running a video-game company - had received nearly $5 million from the sale of Midway's assets to Warner Bros.

The filing also said that though the initial price that Warner was to pay for Midway was $33 million; the final price paid by the company stood at $49 million. Midway spokesman, Geoff Mogilner, elaborated that Warner had paid the additional $16 million amount to compensate Midway for the ultimate value of its games inventory and accounts.

The filing also mentioned that 45 percent of the employees of Midway, which is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, have been laid off!