Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins made nearly $10 million in 2018

[Shawn Knight]

Why it matters: Ninja is arguably the most recognizable public figure in gaming. His fame has transcended esports as even casual techies have probably at least heard of him. There's a price to pay for that level of fame and fortune, however, that not even Blevins is immune to.

Tyler Blevins, better known by his online persona Ninja, had the greatest year of his life in 2018. The Twitch streaming star and avid Fortnite gamer earned close to $10 million last year. It may sound like a dream gig but as is often the case with the elite, grinding at the highest of levels will wear on you.

Ninja was the top Twitch streamer of 2018 based on hours watched and it wasn’t even close. According to The Esports Observer, streamers consumed 227.43 million hours of Ninja content; the next closest competitor, riotgames, had just 99.31 million hours watched. On YouTube, meanwhile, where he posts around five videos a week, he’s approaching 21 million subscribers.

The two platforms account for around 70 percent of Ninja’s income. The remainder comes from sponsorship deals with companies such as Samsung and Red Bull.

Like traditional celebrities, Ninja dedicates an obscene amount of time to his craft. It’s not unusual for the streamer to spend 12 hours a day playing games for his audience. Factor in the appearances associated with being a public figure, the interview requests, photoshoots and so on and you being to see how such a lifestyle wouldn’t be sustainable for very long.

When asked how much longer he’ll do it, Ninja told ESPN, “Until my family is taken care of. Say this ends tomorrow, we don't have enough for the rest of our lives. I tell Jess, 'Honey, we're not going to have that much quality time this year, or even next year. But if we do this right and I continue to grind for a couple more years, we can set ourselves up, and our family and our family's family, for the rest of our lives.’”

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https://www.techspot.com/news/78075-tyler-ninja-blevins-made-nearly-10-million-2018.html

 

[Jeff Re]

$10 million isn't enough for the rest of his life???

 

[Dr Roboto]

News flash. Jobs are time consuming and exhausting. Wow, I never would have guessed it. It just so happens that his "job" is a professional gamer and steamer. That is pretty cool (seriously). I just hope he can "grind" it out for another year or two. Imagine if he had to grind it out until he was 65 like the rest of us. The horror.

 

[mctommy]

$10 million isn't enough for the rest of his life???

In today's world, if you want to setup for your family for the rest of their lives, $10mm wouldn't be enough if you plan to solely rely on that $10mm (really about $5-6mm after income tax), especially since he's probably young so kids, family, income for the next 40 years can tally up...

In all honesty, most people would try to milk it for as long as they can... say 3-4 years too and net $20mm.

 

[Jeff Re]

In today's world, if you want to setup for your family for the rest of their lives, $10mm wouldn't be enough if you plan to solely rely on that $10mm (really about $5-6mm after income tax), especially since he's probably young so kids, family, income for the next 40 years can tally up...

In all honesty, most people would try to milk it for as long as they can... say 3-4 years too and net $20mm.

Wow, I'm really glad I'm smart enough to not live in today's world!

 

[amstech]

The tag line 'Ninja is the most recognized gamer' isn't saying much.
Gamers will never be household names, its entertaining though... I love and support PC gaming/competitive gaming, but its still just gaming, something many people grow out of, even if they still love it.

$10 million isn't enough for the rest of his life???

In today's world, if you want to setup for your family for the rest of their lives, $10mm wouldn't be enough if you plan to solely rely on that $10mm (really about $5-6mm after income tax).

A family can't live off 10 million dollars for the rest of their lives, even after taxes huh?
If you bought a house and car outright for 150K-250K, you would just need to pay taxes/bills for the next 30 years. Utilities/bills/taxes would be around $400-800 per month, so 700X12 is 8400 per year. If you spent wisely and not like a complete m0r0n, you could have several families live off 10 million dollars in nice homes, with new cars and nice things, with enough $$ left over for a new car every 10 years, vacations, eating out, ext.

 

[texasrattler]

So how is going to the same job, doing the same thing over and over any different than doing what Ninja is doing? It's not. Both will make you grind everyday if you want money or more of it. It will have it's good and bad days. Life in general takes a toll on you every single day.
The real difference is the pay. Ninja makes a lot, more than most will ever make in a life time.

I do not understand how 10 million dollars isn't a enough. Well, how doubt you don't blow money on crap and learn to spend it wisely. Or I don't know, invest in things that can make you money. This stuff isn't rocket science but if 10 million dollars isn't enough, you are definitely doing something wrong.

 

[toooooot]

For every Ninja, there are 10 millions losers who are wasting their lives trying to achieve what he did.

 

[mctommy]

The tag line 'Ninja is the most recognized gamer' isn't saying much.
Gamers will never be household names, its entertaining though... I love and support PC gaming/competitive gaming, but its still just gaming, something many people grow out of, even if they still love it.

$10 million isn't enough for the rest of his life???

In today's world, if you want to setup for your family for the rest of their lives, $10mm wouldn't be enough if you plan to solely rely on that $10mm (really about $5-6mm after income tax).

A family can't live off 10 million dollars for the rest of their lives, even after taxes huh?
If you bought a house and car outright for 150K-250K, you would just need to pay taxes/bills for the next 30 years. Utilities/bills/taxes would be around $400-800 per month, so 700X12 is 8400 per year. If you spent wisely and not like a complete m0r0n, you could have several families live off 10 million dollars in nice homes, with new cars and nice things, with enough $$ left over for a new car every 10 years, vacations, eating out, ext.

$250k could barely buy you an apartment let alone a house in major metropolitan area.

I take that back, $10mm ($6mm after tax) after taking into account inflation, kids, medical expenses would be enough for a family to live comfortably.

 

[Evernessince]

News flash. Jobs are time consuming and exhausting. Wow, I never would have guessed it. It just so happens that his "job" is a professional gamer and steamer. That is pretty cool (seriously). I just hope he can "grind" it out for another year or two. Imagine if he had to grind it out until he was 65 like the rest of us. The horror.

Most people don't work 84 hours a week.

For every Ninja, there are 10 millions losers who are wasting their lives trying to achieve what he did.

I wouldn't call them losers. Streaming is all about personality and not everyone has the right kind. People just need to find the right job for themselves. A soul is not filled by material possessions but instead by experiences.

 

[toooooot]

Most people don't work 84 hours a week.



I wouldn't call them losers. Streaming is all about personality and not everyone has the right kind. People just need to find the right job for themselves. A soul is not filled by material possessions but instead by experiences.

What I had in mind was those awkward low quality, low subscriber channels which have zero chances of ever becoming watchable.

 

[Paulos7]

There's the old saying that the more money you make, the more you spend. When you make that kind of money, you're able to buy those expensive things that you couldn't afford before you did (a new McLaren would be nice; and maybe a Bugatti; a nice new warehouse to store them with the rest of my cars seems like a necessity....). Then you need even more money. And more. I've never been there, and probably never will; but I would guess that it's still the never ending cycle that most people go through, regardless of how much money they make.

 

[texasrattler]

There's the old saying that the more money you make, the more you spend. When you make that kind of money, you're able to buy those expensive things that you couldn't afford before you did (a new McLaren would be nice; and maybe a Bugatti; a nice new warehouse to store them with the rest of my cars seems like a necessity....). Then you need even more money. And more. I've never been there, and probably never will; but I would guess that it's still the never ending cycle that most people go through, regardless of how much money they make.

That's why you have self control. Too many spend money on crap. No one says for you to buy those things, its a choice. Those are wants not needs.
Plain and simple 10 mil is more than enough to live your life well, have nice things and have money left over to give to family. Ninja just wants 50-100 mil to leave his family as if they will ever need that much, they wont. They would simply have to blow all that money on buying the stupid stuff.

 

[senketsu]

This guy is still young. Should he live until 80 he'll find that life has a whole lot of years and that impressive sum of money has to go an awful long way....better he keeps working especially while he can make that kind of cash.

 

[Paulos7]

That's why you have self control. Too many spend money on crap. No one says for you to buy those things, its choice. Those are wants not needs.
Pain and simple 10 mil is more than enough to life your life well, have nice things and have money left over to give to family. Ninja just wants 50-100 mil to leave his family as if they will ever need that much, they wont. They would simply have to blow all that money on buying the stupid stuff.

Most people don't know what self control is. Materialism is the driving force in most peoples lives. I could easily live off 1 million, or a fraction of it, because I'm not materialistic.

 

[Morris Minor]

How can people like this muppet? I must be getting old

 

[GirlDownunder]

This young man was savvy enough to lock in while he could. All the power to him.