Faker is the most famous pro in League of Legends. The global star gets big money for contracts but turns down millions in money from China.
It’s not just famous professional footballers like Kylian Mbappé who earn tens of millions of euros every year. That can also be the case for the best in League of Legends. LoL superstar Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee is considered the best player ever in League of Legends. The three-time world champion secured the championship in the Korean professional league LCK with his team T1 at the weekend. Accordingly, the star is also coveted by international competitors, especially in China.
According to T1 CEO Joe Marsh, there was a lot of courting for the Korean before Baker signed his new contract with T1. Marsh made the announcement on the talk show programme “Trash Talk”, hosted by former professional player Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng.
“Every time he becomes a free agent, an offer from China comes in at over US$20 million a year,” Joe Marsh revealed about the offers for Faker. Marsh went on to explain that after Faker’s contract ended in November 2021, he negotiated new opportunities with the star and his family. “It was the first off-season where it was possible that Faker would decide to leave us.”
However, he said a move to China in the top-flight LPL league held no appeal for Faker, despite the massive amount of money involved in his potential commitment. “He doesn’t need money,” Joe Marsh pointed out. “There’s even a building he owns called ‘Faker Tower’.” The South Korean has become an early multimillionaire on the strength of his earnings over the past nine years and has already delved into other investments. He has also been a shareholder in the T1 organisation since 2020. Faker has opted to renew his contract as a player at T1 until the end of this year.
The Faker Tower has 9 floors above ground and 2 floors below ground. The main purpose of the building is a medical facility. There’s a medical facility in the building and I think there’s also a cafe pic.twitter.com/JNR35kXkSQ
– 🍯 (@teddy_faker) April 6, 2022
The decision to stay at T1 proves Faker right. For not only has the now 25-year-old, who plays mid-lane, won three Worlds titles with the organisation and won the LCK’s current Spring Split. This is already his tenth championship title in the Korean league, which is an absolute record. As the winner of the tournament, T1 is also seeded for the Mid-Season Invitational. The LoL event, also known as the “Mini World Cup”, is the first showdown of the year between the world’s best teams and will take place from 10 to 29 May in South Korea.
