Top 10 Richest Esports Players Ever
The world of Esports seems to grow every year. From its origins as a niche hobby, it has now turned into a multi-million-dollar industry and opened up a huge Esports betting market, all while creating celebrities out of the world’s best players.
Many of these top players are now millionaires, living off money they’ve made by being among the best in the game.
But which of the many different Esports players are the richest? Below, we’re going to take a look at the players who have managed to win the most in prize money throughout their career…
10. Lasse “Matumbaman” Urpalainen – $3.8 Million
At number 10, we’ve got Lasse Urpalainen, better known to his fans as Matumbaman.
The 25-year-old Finn is a Dota 2 player, as are the rest of the players on this list. He currently plays for Team Secret and has so far collected a fortune of around $3.8 million.
His biggest victory came as part of Team Liquid, when the team scooped a prize of nearly $11 million at The International 2017. This was worth nearly $2.15 million for each player.
His team also finished 4th at The Invitational 2018, sharing a prize of nearly $1.8 million.
9. Maroun “GH” Merhej – $4.2 Million
Next up, we have Maroun “GH” Merhej, a Lebanese professional Dota 2 player, currently playing for Team Nigma.
He plays support during tournament games and has regularly used Io, Tusk and Keeper of the Light. At the time of writing, he has won around $4.2 million from Dota 2 tournaments.
His biggest ever prize came alongside Matumbaman, the previous entry on this list, when he was part of Team Liquid and they triumphed at The International 2017.
He has also been part of teams taking 2nd and 4th at The International Tournaments and was part of the team to win the Tier 1 China Dota 2 Supermajor.
8. Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov – $4.6 Million
Ivan Ivanov is a 25-year-old Dota 2 player from Bulgaria and he takes 8th place on this rich list.
He’s been playing professionally since 2014 and currently plays for Team Nigma. Ivanov is generally known as an offlaner and his signature heroes are Dark Seer, Nature’s Prophet and Beastmaster.
As with the previous two names in this list, Ivanov was a member of the victorious Team Liquid when they won at The International 2017.
More recently, he has been part of the winning China Dota 2 Supermajor team, plus his team finished 2nd at The International 2019, sharing a prize of nearly $4.5 million.
7. Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi – $4.8 Million
Amer Al-Barkawi is another Dota 2 player.
The 23-year-old Polish-Jordanian plays for Team Nigma and he generally has the carry role. Before Team Nigma, he played for Team Liquid and OG, and was previously ranked number one in the world by MMR.
Once again, he was a member of the victorious team at The International 2017. He was also part of the team that came second in the 2019 tournament.
He won just under $1 million in 2019, however his best ever year was 2017, when he won over $2.4 million.
6. Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi – $5.2 Million
Kuro Takhasomi, who is better known as “KuroKy” is currently a member of Team Nigma.
The 28-year-old has been playing professionally since back in 2011 and is best-known for playing support or captain. He is one of only two players to have competed in every International tournament.
Once again, he was part of the team that won at The International 2017. He came 2nd in the 2019 tournament and 4th in the 2018 tournament.
Other tournaments he’s tasted victory in include the China Dota 2 Supermajor, EPICENTER 2017 and ESL Frankfurt 2015.
5. Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen – $5.4 Million
Now we come to the second of three Finns on this list, who currently plays for OG and has been a member of their team since 2018.
The Esports player has won a whopping total of $5.4 million throughout his career, most of which was won in 2018 and 2019.
It’s no wonder he’s so good; he’s been playing Dota since he was eight years old! He’s now 22 and has recently become a father to a baby girl.
Taavitsainen is the first name on this list not to be a winner at The International 2017, however he tasted success at both the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. By winning both tournaments he got to share a prize pool of over $25 million.
During the 2019 tournament, he had the highest average kills per game of any player.
4. Sébastian “Ceb” Debs – $5.5 Million
Debs, more commonly known as “Ceb”, is a French-Lebanese Dota 2 player.
The 28-year-old is the only French player to have ever won The International. He currently plays for OG as a coach or offlaner, generally playing with Magnus the Magnoceros, Bradwarden or Aiushtha.
The majority of Debs’s winnings have come from winning both The International 2018 and 2019 while playing for OG – the first team to ever win consecutive titles.
He has also placed highly in many other Tier 1 tournaments, most notably winning at DreamHack Summer 2012.
3. Anathan “ana” Pham – $6 Million
Taking the bronze medal in this list of the richest Esports players is Anathan Pham, an Australian player better known as “ana.”
The 21-year-old currently plays for OG, although he is currently inactive, and plays the carry or solo middle role. He is best known for playing with Io, finishing unbeaten with the hero at The International 2019.
As Pham has been a member of OG since June 2018, he has also won two titles at The International.
He’s also won the Boston Major 2016 and the Kiev Major 2017, sharing a prize of $1 million each time.
Overall, he has won an impressive $6 million so far in his career.
2. Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka – $6.5 Million
The runner-up on this list is the third and final Finn to mention, Jesse Vainikka, better known as “JerAx.”
He initially played Heroes of Newerth, however switched to Dota 2. He has played for a number of teams in his career, including OG and Team Liquid, however retired in January 2020.
Throughout his career, Vainikka won a number of massive tournaments, including The International 2018 and 2019.
He also won the Kiev Major 2017, the Boston Major 2016 and EPICENTER 2016. He was the first player to make the final of four consecutive Major tournaments.
1. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein – $6.9 Million
At number one on this list is the Dane, Johan Sundstein, who is better known to Dota 2 fans as “N0tail.”
He is currently the captain of OG and is renowned for his use of Meepo. He is the most successful Dota 2 player of all time, with four Major titles and two International titles.
Aside from his victories at the last two International tournaments, Sundstein has won Majors at Frankfurt, Manila, Boston and Kiev.
He recently came 2nd with his team in the OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division. Overall, he has won $6.9 million in prize money throughout his Dota 2 career.
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