Faker is the most dominant LoL player of all time. One doesn't earn the nickname "unkillable demon king" without reason, right? So, throughout his long career how much has he earned? Let's check out Faker's net worth and how much this superstar has earned throughout his esports career.
Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, is the most famous LoL esports player in the world. There is a good reason for that! He has been performing at the highest level for as long as nobody else has. Just this year he and his team T1 have been back at the League of Legends World Championship Finals. In the end, their opponents DRX managed to take home the trophy, but Faker's legacy is already set in stone.
No other player is as successful as Faker. What does that mean? There is probably no one who has taken home so much prize money and signed contracts as big as Faker has. How much money will it sum up to in the end? We've made some estimates.
Faker Net Worth: What is it in 2022?
So, first of all, there is the prize money. The esports-wiki Liquipedia has put up an estimate for a lot of the most well-known League of Legends players in the world. Faker is sitting at just under 1.6 million US dollar in approximate winnings! I mean, of course, winning the World Championship three times already pays off massively!
Just to compare him to some other LoL esports legends: NA mid laner Bjergsen is estimated to have earned just under 290,000 USD over the course of his career. If we look to the LEC, there is caPs with just over 600,000 USD, about the same earnings as LPL legend Uzi.
So that alone seems to put Faker on top of everyone else. Just stop and think for a moment – who else could've amassed more prize money than Faker? He is the most successful player in LCK and Worlds history, and he has enjoyed an incredibly consistent and long-lived career.
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Faker's Net Worth: Money Earned Through Contracts
Well as you might imagine – prize money is only a share of a professional athlete's earnings. Pretty much all of them are contractually tied to an organization, especially in team sports. Faker is no exception! He has been part of T1, formerly known as SK Telecom T1, since 2013. The South Korean web portal Naver has covered the most recent contract Faker signed with T1, and the estimated salary that comes with it.
In 2021, Faker's salary is consisting of a base salary and additional performance bonuses. His base salary was set at 2.1 million USD, whereas his performance bonuses could bring up the total to over 3.8 million USD in 2021. Hold on, though, this is 2021 we're talking about! His salary for 2022 sits even higher. This year we are at 5.2 million USD in total salary.
You see already, his contractual earnings dwarf his prize money by a lot. Over 7 million USD in 2021 and 2022 alone is quite something. He could earn even more, though, since there have been teams from the LPL apparently offering him contracts with an annual salary of over 20 million USD per year. As we all know, Faker has declined those sorts of offers and has stayed with T1 over the course of his whole career.
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Faker's Sponsorships and Shares in T1
No doubt, the most successful player being part of the most successful team in League of Legends history attracts a lot of possible sponsors. T1 itself is owned by the South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom and the American sports and entertainment company Comcast Spectator. It is rumored that a large part of Faker's salary is already covered by SK Telecom. What does that leave? Well, it looks like Faker has got a partnership with a well-known Bavarian car manufacturer:
— T1 Faker (@faker) April 19, 2022
Mine #BMW #UnitedInRivalry @BMWEsports @BMW pic.twitter.com/5tHk0K5vi6
Just take a look at the team gear of T1: Of course BMW, but also other multi-billion dollar companies like Red Bull, Samsung and Nike. There are most likely also an abundant number of individual partnerships that Faker has been a part of over the course of his career, too many to count for us.
So, what is Faker's actual net worth in 2022? There is no exact number for that, but we can put up a good estimate: Faker's net worth is estimated to be at least 25 million USD. That is, if we count everything together. But there is also his shares in T1 Entertainment & Sports. There are no reliable sources as to how many shares Faker holds, or how much the company is valued at. In 2020, T1 has invested over 11 million USD into Mobalytics, so there is definitely quite some value behind that company.
Reading these sums, you could think that Faker sits in his big mansion, counting his banknotes all day. Far from it! Faker himself and people close to him have portrayed him as a very modest and frugal person. This is most likely because of his humble upbringings, as his family was far from wealthy during his childhood.
Honestly, this makes me like him even more. The best of his craft, but still a down to earth person. Let's just hope he'll amaze us on the LCK and Worlds stage for years to come!
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