Apple launch: who is Scarf Guy?

The launch of the new iPhone 6 in Cupertino, California, yesterday was momentarily derailed when a mild-mannered software executive took to the stage to demonstrate the smartphone's gameplay.

Both the Apple gadget and Vainglory, the multi-player game in question, were both overshadowed by Tommy Krul, a tousle-haired "hot tech dude", as his fans on social media have called him, who has a neat line in knitwear. The purple snood-like scarf worn around his neck sparked a social media frenzy. One Twitter user asked whether Apple would now be bringing out a “space grey” version of Scarf Guy's mauve infinity loop.

Within minutes of his brief, wordless appearance, several parody Twitter accounts sprang up, including @purpleScarfGuy and @KeynoteScarf (just one Tweet so far, but already more than 1,000 followers).

But who is this “Scarf Guy”? Here’s everything you need to know…

Who is Scarf Guy?

Real name: Tommy Krul.

Age: "Mid-thirties."

Nationality: Dutch. Born in The Hague, Tommy now lives in San Francisco.

Occupation: Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of the gaming company Super Evil Megacorp. The company’s first release is the multiplayer game, Vainglory.

Education: Went to school in Dalton Den Haag, an international secondary school in The Hague. Tommy got an undergraduate and masters degree from the University of Amsterdam, where he graduated Cum Laude.

Personality: Work-focused. His video game company is “by gamers, for games”, and he believes that “truly good and deeply compelling games are timeless and ultimately prevail over fine-tuned shallow addiction cycles”.

Style: He's relaxed about his love of knitwear. "I often wear scarves - it's funny," he has said. One Twitter user described Scarf Guy's look as "basically 1990s Gavin Rossdale from Bush".

What his friends say: “Tommy is a very, very unique guy,” said Kristian Segerstrale, co-founder of Super Evil Megacorp, a gaming software developer. “Normally you’d associate these guys with a nerdy look. But Tommy is different. His approach to everything technical is to think about how you make something as beautiful and interesting and distinct as possible. We think that his scarf was a very outward expression of that mindset."

Relationship status: He refuses to say - and there are no clues on his Facebook page. However, word has it that, despite being a gamer, he has a fiancée.

Thoughts on the Twitter frenzy: “It’s exciting and humbling that we’ve had this amount of attention."

How to get in touch with Scarf Guy: Try LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/tommykrul) and Facebook (facebook.com/tommy.krul/about).

What the internet says: