The ten highest-earning esports players in history, ranked by career tournament prize money.
Quick answer: 1. N0tail (Johan Sundstein), 2. JerAx (Jesse Vainikka), 3. Miposhka (Yaroslav Naidenov), 4. ana (Anathan Pham), 5. Yatoro (Ilya Mulyarchuk), 6. Collapse (Magomed Khalilov), 7. Ceb (Sebastien Debs), 8. Topson (Topias Taavitsainen), 9. Mira (Miroslaw Kolpakov), 10. KuroKy (Kuro Takhasomi).
Esports prize money is concentrated to an extraordinary degree, and the reason is one tournament. Dota 2's The International was funded for a decade by in-game battle pass sales, which pushed its prize pool from $1.6 million in 2011 to more than $40 million in 2021 - still the largest purse in esports history. Winning it twice makes you one of the richest competitive players who has ever lived. That is why every player in this top ten plays the same game, and why nine of the ten belong to just three rosters: OG, Team Spirit and Team Liquid. The list is current as of 18 September 2026, weeks after Team Spirit's third International title reshuffled the middle of it.
N0tail has earned more prize money than any player in esports history, just over $7.18 million. He captained OG to victory at The International in both 2018 and 2019, the only back-to-back championship run in the tournament's history, and the two Aegis wins account for the bulk of his total.
JerAx sits second at roughly $6.49 million, earned as OG's support player on both winning Internationals. He announced his retirement shortly after the 2019 title, walking away at the peak of his earnings and leaving the all-time number one spot to his captain.
Miposhka is the highest-earning player outside OG, with about $6.25 million. As Team Spirit's captain he lifted the Aegis at The International 2021 - the $40 million prize pool, the largest in esports history - and again in 2023.
ana has earned around $6.02 million as OG's carry player in both championship years, and he did it while repeatedly stepping away from competition between runs. He was 19 at the first title, which makes his total one of the fastest ever accumulated in esports.
Yatoro has won about $5.99 million and is one of only two players ever to win The International three times, in 2021, 2023 and 2026. Team Spirit's carry was still a teenager when he won the first of them and is the youngest player in this top ten.
Collapse has earned roughly $5.99 million, within $5,000 of his teammate Yatoro, alongside whom he became the first three-time International champion in August 2026. He is regarded as one of the strongest offlane players of the modern era.
Ceb has earned about $5.95 million and is the rarest kind of figure in esports: a part-owner of the organisation he plays for. He came out of a coaching role to play offlane for OG at The International 2018 and won it, then repeated the result in 2019.
Topson has won around $5.90 million, almost all of it in two years. He was an unknown pub player when OG signed him weeks before The International 2018; he won it, then won it again in 2019, and his unorthodox mid-lane hero choices became one of the defining stories of both tournaments.
Mira has earned about $5.66 million as Team Spirit's support player, winning The International in 2021 and 2023. Support players rarely draw the headlines, but Dota 2 rosters split prize money evenly, so his total sits within a fifth of the all-time number one's.
KuroKy has earned roughly $5.30 million, and is the only player in this top ten whose total does not come from OG or Team Spirit. He captained Team Liquid to The International 2017 and has the longest career of anyone here, having played in the first ten editions of the tournament in an unbroken run from 2011.
| # | Name | Country | Game | Team | Career prize money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N0tail (Johan Sundstein) | Denmark | Dota 2 | OG | $7,184,163 |
| 2 | JerAx (Jesse Vainikka) | Finland | Dota 2 | OG | $6,486,624 |
| 3 | Miposhka (Yaroslav Naidenov) | Russia | Dota 2 | Team Spirit | $6,250,135 |
| 4 | ana (Anathan Pham) | Australia | Dota 2 | OG | $6,024,412 |
| 5 | Yatoro (Ilya Mulyarchuk) | Ukraine | Dota 2 | Team Spirit | $5,990,099 |
| 6 | Collapse (Magomed Khalilov) | Russia | Dota 2 | Team Spirit | $5,985,474 |
| 7 | Ceb (Sebastien Debs) | France | Dota 2 | OG | $5,949,443 |
| 8 | Topson (Topias Taavitsainen) | Finland | Dota 2 | OG | $5,898,811 |
| 9 | Mira (Miroslaw Kolpakov) | Ukraine | Dota 2 | Team Spirit | $5,661,262 |
| 10 | KuroKy (Kuro Takhasomi) | Germany | Dota 2 | Team Liquid | $5,295,699 |
Ranked by total career tournament prize money in US dollars as tracked by Esports Earnings, the standard public database for competitive gaming payouts, read on 18 September 2026. Figures count official tournament winnings only, split evenly across a winning roster unless a team has published a different split. They deliberately exclude team salaries, streaming and content income, sponsorship and endorsement deals, and in-game item revenue shares, all of which are private and in several cases larger than the prize money shown here. Winnings are counted at the amount announced by the organiser, not adjusted for tax or inflation, so older results are worth less in real terms than the figures suggest. Players are listed under the handle they compete with; national flags follow the player's registered nationality on Esports Earnings. This is a live ranking and the order changes after every major event.
Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein of Denmark, with just over $7.18 million in career tournament prize money. He captained OG to consecutive Dota 2 International titles in 2018 and 2019, which remains the only back-to-back championship in the event's history.
Because of how The International was funded. For a decade Valve channelled a share of in-game battle pass sales into the prize pool, which peaked above $40 million in 2021 - several times the purse of any other esports event. Two wins there earn more than an entire career in most other titles. Prize pools have since fallen sharply, so this list is likely to stay dominated by players from the crowdfunded era for some time.
No. These are tournament winnings only, as tracked by Esports Earnings. Team salaries, streaming revenue, sponsorship and endorsement deals are private and are not counted, even though for many top players they exceed prize money. The figures are also pre-tax and not inflation-adjusted.
Yatoro and Collapse of Team Spirit, who in August 2026 became the first players to win it three times, having taken the title together in 2021, 2023 and 2026. Before that the record was two, shared by the OG roster of 2018-19 and the Spirit players who won in 2021 and 2023.
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