Twitch Streamer Ninja Made Close to $10 Million Last Year

cageymaru

cageymaru

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Twitch streamer and Fortnite personality Ninja has been interviewed by CNN where he revealed that he made close to $10 million last year. 70% of his income is from YouTube and Twitch, but he also has sponsors such as Samsung, Uber Eats, and Red Bull. His 20 million YouTube subscribers generate ad revenue for Ninja as most of his videos have been viewed millions of times. He has over 40,000 Twitch subscribers that choose a support package that costs $4.99, $9.99, or $25 a month. Of course Ninja's Twitch viewers generate ad revenue for the mercurial streamer that has nearly 95,000 confirmed Fortnite kills. Ninja says that the secret to his success is always being available for fans to watch. "They're gonna find another coffee shop if you're not there ... you have to be there all the time," he said.

Ninja mans that "coffee shop" for 12 hours a day, he estimates, working out to nearly 4,000 hours of Fornite this year alone, the equivalent of more than 140 days. Each and every time he's away from the shop, Blevins and wife/manager Jess are calculating how many subscribers they're losing, and how much money they're not earning. While the couple does carve out time for one another each day, their last vacation was their honeymoon eight years ago. And even that trip, long before Fornite, was still cut short for professional gaming.
 
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brentsg

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Yeah I mean my kid does watch some Twitch and Youtube but I don't get it. He plays more than I should let him, and he's definitely in that 95,000 that Ninja killed.
 
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brentsg

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It's also funny how the motivation changes.

I'm sitting here thinking if I'd made close to $10M last year then I'd be done.. forever. Anything from this point would be for the enjoyment of life.

But it seems you get that $10M in your bank account (whatever's left after Uncle Sam and friends takes their half or more) and a sweet home and comfy retirement isn't enough. Now you have your sights set on a garage full of super cars and that infinity pool overlooking the ocean... and maybe on both coasts, and heck why not Australia too.
 
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sfsuphysics

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Yaka said:
he has done well for him self, but paying to watch someone game? wouldnt that time be better spent playing any game even fortnite?
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Well you dont have to pay to watch, but yeah people pay just to be able to chat like the child of some hyperactive dude had a kid with an autistic girl and then snorted speed through a pixy stick with a cattle prod turned on up their ass.... now I dont know about you but that is money well spent!!

But seriously, is it really any different than paying someone to watch a sport, or listen to their music, or watch a movie?
 
viscountalpha

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brentsg said:
It's also funny how the motivation changes.

I'm sitting here thinking if I'd made close to $10M last year then I'd be done.. forever. Anything from this point would be for the enjoyment of life.

But it seems you get that $10M in your bank account (whatever's left after Uncle Sam and friends takes their half or more) and a sweet home and comfy retirement isn't enough. Now you have your sights set on a garage full of super cars and that infinity pool overlooking the ocean... and maybe on both coasts, and heck why not Australia too.
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Some people don't take upkeep into the cost. 10m is plenty to live on if your smart.
 
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sfsuphysics

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viscountalpha said:
Some people don't take upkeep into the cost. 10m is plenty to live on if your smart.
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Sure, bpjut who wants to just live? Invest it and enjoy life. Getting 8% return isnt that difficult and you can afford to ride out some lows like we are currently going through, just dont do stupid shit like by a castle on each continent, and you can still have quite a bit of fun in life
 
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wizzi01

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I also wanted to add some people like Ninja, but i like the youtubers who don't waste any screen with their faces like H2O Delirious and Ohmwrecker.
 
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PenGunn

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Geezus! Rick and Morty, one guy, were far better at Fallout 76 that this Ninja guy. He was pitiful and Logic was just as bad. He would not do well as a Fallout 76 streamer as he's not good, as far as I can see. He can't even shoot straight.

Pshaw ... kids these days. ;)
 
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Chris_B

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I don't even get what that game is all about, seems to be pubg with some random spammy building mechanic in it for some reason? o_O
 
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Makaveli@BETA

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brentsg said:
It's also funny how the motivation changes.

I'm sitting here thinking if I'd made close to $10M last year then I'd be done.. forever. Anything from this point would be for the enjoyment of life.

But it seems you get that $10M in your bank account (whatever's left after Uncle Sam and friends takes their half or more) and a sweet home and comfy retirement isn't enough. Now you have your sights set on a garage full of super cars and that infinity pool overlooking the ocean... and maybe on both coasts, and heck why not Australia too.
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Your way of thinking is why most people stay average income earners and never make it to that level.

All those people that make 10+ million don't stop working ever.
 
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brentsg

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Makaveli@BETA said:
Your way of thinking is why most people stay average income earners and never make it to that level.

All those people that make 10+ million don't stop working ever.
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Uhh I'm sure there is a long list of reasons why most people don't ever earn $10M+ in a year.
 
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Deleted member 204526

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brentsg said:
It's also funny how the motivation changes.

I'm sitting here thinking if I'd made close to $10M last year then I'd be done.. forever. . . .
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That sounds like death to me.
 
Gorankar

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brentsg said:
It's also funny how the motivation changes.

I'm sitting here thinking if I'd made close to $10M last year then I'd be done.. forever. Anything from this point would be for the enjoyment of life.

But it seems you get that $10M in your bank account (whatever's left after Uncle Sam and friends takes their half or more) and a sweet home and comfy retirement isn't enough. Now you have your sights set on a garage full of super cars and that infinity pool overlooking the ocean... and maybe on both coasts, and heck why not Australia too.
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Why does any wealthy person keep earning? "For $1 more."
 
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wdtiger

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mind officially blown. I've never watched twitch anything, but pretty damned amazing that you can make money doing this stuff!
 
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atmartens

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Gorankar said:
Why does any wealthy person keep earning? "For $1 more."
That, and our economic system is designed around inflation. $10M figuring an average of 8% return a year, living off half, and reinvesting the other half, will not keep you current with the true inflation rate of 6-12% a year.
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Where are you getting 12% inflation from? A 1 lb box of pasta in the US costs the same as it did 5 years ago ($1.00 regular price, on sale $0.88).
 
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brentsg

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Smashing Young Man said:
That sounds like death to me.
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I mean I'm not going to watch TV until I die. I gotta work on a lot of backlogs if I have that $10M or whatever.

My dad owned his own business and I watched him work until he died. It was in his blood but it's not how I intend to go down. I definitely get that some people are wired differently.
 
Conman

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Why would he quit? He made the choice to play video games instead of getting a "real" job. He's doing what he loves,living the dream.
 
5150Joker

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Good for him he's living the dream we all wish we could.
 
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Eshelmen

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I'd give my left nut to make 10 million in a year. Good for him. He's making nearly 100x per hour as I am. Hell yeah bro. From streaming a game? Cool as hell.

Hope he stays up for a while.


How are his stream numbers when he's NOT playing Fortnite though? If fortnite dies, does he?


Rewind to early 2000's. Remember Fatal1ty making his first million off of those Abit boards?

Lucky sob.
 
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Derangel

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Eshelmen said:
I'd give my left nut to make 10 million in a year. Good for him. He's making nearly 100x per hour as I am. Hell yeah bro. From streaming a game? Cool as hell.

Hope he stays up for a while.


How are his stream numbers when he's NOT playing Fortnite though? If fortnite dies, does he?


Rewind to early 2000's. Remember Fatal1ty making his first million off of those Abit boards?

Lucky sob.
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If he, or his wife, are smart they'll pay attention to trends and jump off Fortnite when it dies and go onto something else. I believe they've talked in interviews about how they know Fortnite won't last forever so they're not going on huge spending sprees with the money. If that's the case then they'll be okay when Fortnite starts dying.
 
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Eshelmen

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Derangel said:
If he, or his wife, are smart they'll pay attention to trends and jump off Fortnite when it dies and go onto something else. I believe they've talked in interviews about how they know Fortnite won't last forever so they're not going on huge spending sprees with the money. If that's the case then they'll be okay when Fortnite starts dying.
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I don't see Fortnite dying any time soon though to be honest. Even if he can stick with Fortnite for another 2 to 3 years and make half the money as he did in 2018, he's set for life no doubt.
 
lostin3d

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I've seen a number of clips on this guy doing donations and essentially fund raising. Seems like a good guy. Has even called out scammers on occasion.

 
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Advil

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So he works long hard hours for insane money. That's... ok!

If he's putting away a good chunk every years and investing it things that will help that money work for him and his wife then he won't NEED to keep doing this for long.

Cry me a damn river. Most of us would give a body part for a job that would let us work like dogs for 5-10 years then retire at will to go do whatever the hell we feel like for the rest of our lives.

He's making upper-tier Formula 1 driver level money. That's a dream ticket for a job you can work from home.
 
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Furious_Styles

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If he really is working 12hrs/day he maybe can do another year or so and then just retire and live off the proceeds. Those hours have to suck ass.
 
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Deleted member 184142

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Paul_Johnson said:
But....why?
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Its just like any other content we like and support. I like the [H], even though I can use it for free, I have a patreon sub. As I would rather make sure it keeps going, and I think it is worth it. Same with streamers, Most people sub to a personality they like, it's not the gaming it self in lots of cases.
 
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WorldExclusive

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The was a time between 2005-2011 I had this much time on my hands (deadbeat). Never thought this kind of stuff would take off.
I just think it's an incredible easy way to make money, even for 100K a year. Most Youtubers that stream have 500K+ followers.

Whereas people that have more informative channels struggle to get 50K.
 
Zarathustra[H]

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<grumpy old man time>

1.) There is something odd about a grown-ass adult spending so much time playing a game that mainly appeals to the 10 - 13 year old demographic.

2.) It is nuts that anyone wants to watch someone else play a video game online, rather than just play themselves.

3.) It is nuts that anyone is enough of an attention whore to want to share their gaming experience with others over a live stream.

4.) It is nuts that Youtube/Twitch/etc. are willing to share ad revenue with these clowns. Youtube was much better before they shared their ad revenue with anyone.

I wish everyone would just stop being attention whores and just enjoy their goddamned games for what they are.

</grumpy old man time>
 
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