Get to know GMHikaru: Streaming on Kick, net worth, more
Hikaru “GMHikaru” Nakamura has spent the last several years making chess cool to the streaming community, and his resulting net worth is nothing to scoff at.
Chess took off in popularity among audiences online beginning in 2020. The game has its own category on major streaming platforms with as many thousands of viewers flocking to watch. This explosion has made some of the world’s top chess players into household names and even helped them to launch successful streaming careers.
Chess isn’t known to be a lucrative profession as far as mainstream sports go, but streaming can be huge for some content creators, including the biggest chess players. GMHikaru has made both work in a way that adds up to a large estimated net worth and a massive fan following online.
Who is GMHikaru?
Hikaru “GMHikaru” Nakamura is an American grandmaster chess player who went on to also become arguably the most popular of all chess streamers during the game’s digital boom period.
From a young age, Nakamura has excelled in chess. At age 10, he beat both an international master and a grandmaster before becoming a grandmaster himself at the young age of 15. He is one of the highest-rated chess players in the world and recently broke Chess.com’s Blitz rating again with a score of 3348, showing that he’s continuing to push the boundaries of greatness in online chess play.
GMHikaru is one of the highest rated chess players in the world. Image credit: Global Chess League
The chess superstar turned to content creation in 2018 with a fresh account on YouTube, and he later followed that by streaming live on Twitch, and eventually on his current digital home of Kick. He has 3 million, 2 million, and 186,000 followers on each of the three platforms, respectively, showing the immense reach Nakamura wields and helping to explain GMHikaru’s net worth.
His content mainly consists of a few categories, all of which are specific to chess: speed chess featuring other chess players and streamers; reviewing past chess tournament performances; and occasionally coaching beginner chess players. In 2020, Hikaru famously helped coach famous streamers like Felix “xQc” Lenyel for a tournament featuring top Twitch streaming stars.
Many credit part of the online rise in popularity of chess to the grandmaster and his content. GMHikaru also made headlines for becoming one of the first chess players to sign with a major esports team when he joined TeamSoloMid in 2020 before later joining up with Team Falcons.
What is GMHikaru’s net worth?
GMHikaru’s net worth is estimated to be at around $50 million, making him one of the richest chess players, and streamers, in the world.
Only a small percentage of Hikaru Nakamura’s earnings come from chess tournament prizes. For instance, GMHikaru won a 2022 FIDE Grand Prix event that had a total prize money pool of 450,000 euros. While this adds up and was certainly a meaningful financial windfall for the grandmaster, it’s only a small percentage of his overall net worth. So how did Hikaru Nakamura push his net worth as high as $50 million?
GMHikaru has attributed much of his net worth to investing any prize money won in the stock market. Nakamura has reported puts cash behind major companies including Google and Intel. Hikaru has also boasted numerous sponsors over the years. TipRanks has backed the chess grandmaster, and other past and present sponsors have included Red Bull, CircleChess, and Misfits Gaming. That’s in addition to his esports team associations with TSM and Team Falcons.
Despite not having as many followers as some other Kick streamers, GMHikaru likely makes a substantial amount from streaming on the platform. He signed a Kick contract back in 2023, and while the exact amount attached to that initial signing hasn’t been publicly disclosed, it’s no secret that Kick has spent big money to bring popular streamers to its platform, including an estimated $100 million in upfront fees and incentives for former Nakamura student xQc.
Kick is also known for being a much more friendly platform to creators in terms of revenue sharing. Kick subscriptions pay out at a rate of 95% towards streamers, and the livestreaming platform’s partnership program has been known to pay big amounts to streamers who bring in both viewership and engagement. Nakamura does both, commanding one of the more impressive and active followings on Kick with his stellar chess play and knowledgeable commentary on his games.
Through a combination of big wins in competitive chess, smart investments, prominent sponsorship deals, and a massive online following that culminated in a lucrative Kick deal, GMHikaru has managed to build a net worth that’s just as impressive as his many chess accomplishments.. Chess has seen a major resurgence in the public sphere, and Hikaru Nakamura is undoubtedly among the leading names in both pushing the game forward and benefiting from its continued rise in popularity.
Featured image credit: Chess.com
There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.
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