It’s no secret that Richard Tyler Blevins, better known as Ninja, is one of the most influential streamers around, but Time magazine has just given the young internet personality a huge honor.
On Apr. 17, the publication named Ninja one of 2019’s 100 most influential people. The announcement came with an article penned by Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and return specialist JuJu Smith-Schuster on why he deserved the honor.
“Ninja was huge in building up the credibility of e-sports,” Smith-Schuster wrote. “At the end of the day, Ninja is an absolute legend, and someone to whom we owe a lot for making gaming what it is today.”
Ninja responded to the announcement with a post to Twitter, giving his thanks to Smith-Schuster and speaking on his thanks to the publication.
“Insanely honored and speechless to be on the Time magazine top 100 most influential people in the world,” he wrote.
Insanely honored and speechless to be on the @TIME magazine top 100 most influential people in the world. https://t.co/TkBCye8BJ9 love to @TeamJuJu
— Ninja (@Ninja) April 17, 2019
A professional gamer in the competitive scene since 2009, Ninja saw his popularity skyrocket in recent years via his streams of PUBG and Fortnite. As of this February, he stands as the most subscribed-to Twitch streamer with over 13 million followers.
On a weekly basis, his streams see 30,000 viewers, grossing over $500,000 per month. This income has been bolstered by advertisement deals with companies and brands like Red Bull and EA for their products and games respectively.
While this success has allowed him to garner the attention and support of several different advertisers, he’s also used his success and income to support several charitable causes.
Some of his largest donations came from the #Clips4Kids event where he helped raise $340,000 and the Fortnite Pro-Am at E3 2018 where he and Marshmello donated their $1 million winnings to a charity of their choice.
Though he hasn’t been without some controversy during his career – namely the use of a racial slur during a stream last year – he continues to use his success to support charitable causes and further the eSports scene.
