With six Worlds trophies, the Unkillable Demon King has collected the most prize money in League of Legends. Does that make him the richest Esports player? In this article, we break down Faker’s net worth in 2026, and how he makes his money.
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok is widely known as one of the best League of Legends player of all time. As one of the most famous personalities in South Korea, the influence of T1’s mid laner spreads far beyond Esports.
Faker is the mid laner for T1, formerly SK Telecom T1. Faker joined SKT T1 in 2013 at the age of 17. Sang-hyeok won the World Championship in his rookie year, then repeated the feat in 2015 and once more in 2016, earning the nickname of Unkillable Demon King.
SKT T1’s dominance faded, and the team rebranded to T1. In 2023, the team won Worlds once again, and again in 2024 and 2025, making Faker a six-time LoL World Champion. As of today, Sang-hyeok remains the player to beat.
Faker has only ever played for T1, and he recently signed a contract to stay with them until 2029. The Unkillable Demon King even became a part-owner of T1 Entertainment & Sports in 2020.
Between these tournament earnings, his salary, the T1 equity, and his other revenue sources, how much does Faker earn in 2026?
17-year-old Faker smiles on stage as he is on his way to conquer his first Worlds in 2013. Image Source: Riot Games
| Source | Cash prize for the team (USD) |
|---|---|
| Worlds 2013 | $1,000,000 |
| Worlds 2015 | $1,000,000 |
| Worlds 2016 | $2,028,000 |
| Worlds 2017 | $1,855,114 |
| Worlds 2019 | $155,750+ |
| Worlds 2021 | $178,000+ |
| Worlds 2022 | $333,750+ |
| Worlds 2023 | $445,000+ |
| Worlds 2024 | $450,000+ |
| Worlds 2025 | $1,000,000+ |
| Earnings from MSI, EWC, LCK, OGN, KeSPA Cup, and other tournaments | $3,589,059 |
Starting in 2016, part of the sales of Worlds content was added to the World Championship prize pool. However, since 2018, Riot has stopped disclosing the value this amounts to. We can estimate that this at least doubles the initial prize pool.
In the end, SKT T1 and T1’s official tournament earnings with Faker add up to $12 million. Factoring in the Worlds sales, they reach over $14.6 million. As for the share of the GOAT, Faker’s tournament earnings are over $2 million by 2026.
Between his 6 World trophies and his presence in the Hall of Fame, Faker has 9 skins to his name (with one more on the way). Riot gives a cut of the World Champion and Hall of Fame skins to their namesake player.
How that money is split between Riot, the LCK, T1, and Faker is unknown, and so are the skin sales. However, considering that the number of Faker skins is greater than the number of times the player has used a skin, this is bound to add a significant amount to T1 Faker’s net worth.
In League of Legends, pro players earn most of their money through their salary rather than prize pools. That remains true even for the player who wins the most tournaments. Faker’s salary from T1 is said to be somewhere between $6 and $8 million per year. This figure is about 20 to 30 times higher than the average salary in the LCK.
Teams from the LPL have offered Faker ridiculously large sums, around $20 million a year or even a blank check. However, loyalty to T1 was more important to the GOAT.
Faker lifts the trophy after winning Worlds 2025. Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
In 2020, T1 CEO Joe Marsh included shares of T1 Entertainment & Sports in Faker’s contract, for a 5.6% stake. In 2022, based on a Forbes evaluation, this added about $12 million to Faker’s net worth.
However, T1’s revenues increased drastically in the past three years. Current reports indicate that Faker’s stake could be worth over $20 million by now, and they are set to grow much more by the end of his contract in 2026.
Faker owns a building in Seoul. In 2020, he bought a building for over $8 million and renamed it the Faker Tower. T1’s mid laner now leases the building to companies, adding yet another source of income for him.
The GOAT also has sponsor deals with several brands, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Red Bull, Samsung, and Razer.
To add one final “penny” to the pile, Faker also regularly streams on SOOP, earning money there as well.
Combining everything, Faker’s net worth is estimated at $10-20 million, likely making him the richest LoL Esports player. It could even be up to $50 million based on undisclosed numbers. In spite of it all, Faker lives a very frugal life and spends under $200 a month. Sang-hyeok also regularly makes large donations to charities, cementing his GOAT status even outside of League of Legends.
Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
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