The highest-paid professional gamer by tournament winnings is Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, primarily from Dota 2, with over $7.18 million in career prize money, followed closely by his former teammates, all from the dominant OG team that won The International. While N0tail leads in prize money, top earners in other games like Fortnite (Bugha) or CS:GO (dupreeh) have significant earnings, but N0tail's team winnings put him at the top overall, though total income from streaming and endorsements varies.
Leading eSports players worldwide 2025, by overall earnings
The leading eSports player worldwide ranked by overall earnings was Johan Sundstein. Originally from Denmark and also known as N0tail, Sundstein has earned over seven million U.S. dollars throughout his recorded eSports gaming career.
Faker's net worth is believed to be around $10 million. Faker's salary with T1 is approximately $6 million per year, and he holds stock options that give him a 6% ownership stake in the company. Despite his immense wealth, Faker lives a famously frugal lifestyle and donates a lot of money to charitable causes.
Richest streamers in the USA (2025)
First released in 2017, the battle royale game Fortnite has become popular with audiences worldwide. The game also has a sizeable eSports segment, and Kyle Giersdorf, also known as Bugha, is the most successful Fortnite eSports player, with lifetime earnings from the game of 3.77 million U.S. dollars.
We have based our Bugha net worth figure on the prize winnings from his 163 mostly Fortnite tournaments since 2018. According to esports earnings, he has total earnings of $3.78 million, with the most lucrative being the $3 million received from winning the 2019 Solo Fortnite World Cup.
There isn't one single "number 1" player, as rankings shift, but Peterbot (Peter Kata) is widely considered the top current player in 2025-2026 due to consistent wins, while Bugha (Kyle Giersdorf) remains iconic as the highest earner and former World Cup champion, making him arguably the greatest ever, alongside top contenders like Mero, EpikWhale, and other consistent FNCS winners.
As of late 2025, Kai Cenat is generally considered richer than IShowSpeed, with estimated net worths placing Kai around $35 million from Twitch and IShowSpeed at about $30 million from YouTube, though both are top earners with rapidly growing fortunes from different platforms and massive global audiences.
For instance, if you decide to gift 100 Tier 1 subscriptions, you're looking at an investment of about $499 before fees are deducted by Twitch—who typically takes around half unless the streamer has negotiated a better deal through their Partner Program.
Doran: 25 Oner:22 Faker:29 Guma:23 Keria:23 I was curious since Peanut is starting millitary service at 28 how close anyone on the team who is not exempt like Faker and Keria. Doran the closest has 3 years away.
Sentinels went on to win the first international Valorant tournament, the VCT Stage 2 Masters Reykjavík after sweeping Fnatic in the grand finals by a score of 3–0; TenZ was named the grand finals MVP. On June 2, 2021, Sentinels bought out TenZ's contract, reported to be valued between US$1.25 to $1.5 million.
There's no single "World No. 1 Gamer" as it's subjective, but PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg) is arguably the most famous globally for his massive YouTube following (110+ million subs) and impact on gaming culture, while competitive players like Denmark's Vejrgang top specific game leaderboards (e.g., EA Sports FC Pro). For esports legends, Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) from League of Legends is a Hall of Famer, showcasing that "best" depends on the game (YouTube personality, competitive FPS, MOBA, etc.).
The #1 richest YouTuber in the world is MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), consistently topping lists with an estimated net worth often cited over $500 million, potentially reaching $1 billion, driven by viral content, massive giveaways, and successful business ventures like Feastables and MrBeast Burger, making him the highest-earning creator globally.
The Top 5 Richest Gamers: A Deep Dive
How Much Are 10 Gifted Subs On Twitch? Gifting 10 subs on Twitch is popular among users, and the cost depends on the tier of the gifted subscription: Tier 1 gifted subs cost $4.99 each, making the total cost for 10 subs $49.90.
What does a professional streamer do all day? Professional live streamers broadcast live videos of themselves to an online audience. While most streamers play video games, some streamers engage in activities like painting or cooking.
In 2019, the magazine estimated Jenner's net worth at US$1 billion and called her the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 21, but it turned out to be false, as Forbes revealed that Jenner and her team had deceptively forged tax-returns to create an image she was a billionaire.
On average, YouTube pays between $0.003 and $0.005 per view. For 1 million views, you can expect to earn between $3,000 and $5,000. However, not everything is as simple as it seems.
Yes, players have reached level 1000 in Fortnite, and even far beyond, though it's a massive grind and often involves exploiting XP glitches or playing incredibly dedicated during specific seasons with boosted XP, with creators like Rages Revenge reaching levels in the thousands and showing it's a notable feat, even if the in-game reward for hitting 1000 is minimal.
Bugha is a professional Fortnite player best known for winning the Fortnite World Cup Solo Championship. Since then, he's won multiple FNCS grand championships, and more than two dozen other tournament LAN appearances. He continues to be one of the highest ranked competitors in Fortnite History.