It is hard to determine the average “career age” of a gamer, but it is known that as long as they are passionate, those who work in this industry will do their utmost to contribute to their love. However, there is a young 17-year-old boy – Diego Palma, who has only been in the industry for two years but is already thinking about his retirement plan.
Initially, with the desire to have a PC like professional gamers, the boy Diego Palma worked part-time, saving money to buy computer parts and build his own PC. When the game Fortnite was released, Diego Palma began to play and study it. This was also the first step for the boy to step into the gaming world.
In 2018, at the age of 13, the young gamer asked his parents to attend the Fortnite Royale 2018 tournament at the Oakland Esports Arena to compete. Initially thought to be participating for fun, the boy ended up securing second place in North America, bringing home a prize of $500 (approximately 11.5 million VND). Notably, one of the organizers noticed his talent.
A year later, at the age of 14 when eligible to compete, Diego Palma signed a contract with 100 Thieves – a professional gaming organization, which often required photo shoots or promotional videos, and live streams for several hours each month as stipulated in the contract.
Right after entering professional gaming, the boy achieved his first major victory in his career, finishing fifth at the Fortnite World Cup. He and his friend Brendan Falconer earned a total of $900,000 (approximately 20.7 billion VND) in prize money.
In total, since becoming a professional gamer, Diego Palma has earned over $646,000 (nearly 15 billion VND) after two years of “fighting”. Although still young, this guy has already planned for retirement and hired someone to create a personal financial plan.
“I’m not flashy and don’t need a lot of money. I want to ensure that I have a plan for the future. My dad created an account for me to invest money in the market, and I also hired a financial planner for my retirement plan.”
He also decided to choose online courses, allowing Diego Palma to have more flexibility in balancing his studies and competition schedule.