{"id":9906,"date":"2019-12-27T04:37:49","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T04:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/?p=9906"},"modified":"2019-12-27T04:38:17","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T04:38:17","slug":"top-10-highest-paid-esports-players-by-prize-winnings-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/top-10-highest-paid-esports-players-by-prize-winnings-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 highest paid esports players by prize winnings in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we look back at 2019, it’s safe to say it was the biggest year for the esports industry, featuring a record 4583 tournaments across all titles and over US $214,000,000 in prize money that was awarded to teams, players and organizations. Here we will look over the list of top 10 esports players by total prize winnings in 2019<\/strong>, based on the numbers provided by esportsearnings.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10. Shane “EpikWhale” Cotton ($1,297,366.67)<\/h2>\n

EpikWhale is an American Fortnite<\/a> professional player, who formerly played for Kungarna and has since August 2019 switched over to NRG Esports. The young esports player pocketed slightly under $1.3 million throughout 2019, making him one of esports millionaires at only 16-years of age. His biggest achievement in 2019 came at the Fortnite World Cup<\/a> – Solo where he finished third and won $1.2 million. He also finished 12th at Fortnite World Cup Finals – Duos alongside Storm, each earning $50.000.<\/p>\n

9. Emil “Nyhrox” Bergquist Pedersen ($1,509,516.19)<\/h2>\n

Nyhrox is another Fortnite professional player who was previously a member of Cooler Esports. He made just over $200,000 more compared to EpikWhale with his performance at Fortnite World Cup Finals – Duos, where Nyhrox alongside David “Aqua” Wang claimed the gold medal and $1,500,000 in prize winnings each.<\/p>\n

8. David \u201cAqua\u201d Wang ($1,790,036.55)<\/h2>\n

Nyhrox’s teammate Aqua made the list with slightly under $1.8 million which he won throughout the year. The majority of his earnings came from the World Cup – Duos event, where he pocketed $1.500,000, thus became a millionaire at only 17-years of age.<\/p>\n

7. Harrison \u201cpsalm\u201d Chang ($1,819,300.00) <\/h2>\n

As we move up our list, we welcome the fourth Fortnite pro and a member of Counter Logic Gaming – psalm, who finished the Fortnite World Cup – Solo in a second place.
\nHis performance earned the 24-year-old $1.8 million, which is about 99% of his total winnings from 2019. That only goes to show how massive the Fortnite World Cup 2019 was for the esports scene and the players themselves.<\/p>\n

6. Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf ($3,061,716.67)<\/h2>\n

As we look at the sixth player on the list, we need to take a massive jump of over $1.2 million in prize winnings to get to 16-year-old Bugha who needs no special introduction.<\/p>\n

Bugha wrote history by winning the Fortnite World Cup earlier in the summer, which made him one of the most recognisable esports players of the year. With his achievement, Bugha won $3 and become an overnight sensation. Later in November he also got crowned as the Esports Player of the Year and Esports PC Rookie of the Year at an Esports Awards ceremony<\/a>. His winnings in 2019 alone made Bugha the 12th highest-paid esports player in history and the only Fortnite player that sits in the top 31 on the all-time leaderboard.<\/p>\n

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Riot Games and LoL win big at 2019 Esports Awards<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n