Content creators and streamers Valkyrae and CouRageJD are now co-owners of the esports team 100 Thieves. This makes Valkyrae one of the few women to own an esports team, which should have a ripple effect for other women in the gaming industry.
Valkyrae took Twitch and YouTube by storm last year when she became the fastest-growing streamer of 2020, surpassing her friend and fellow female streamer Pokimane. Though she's been a part of the 100 Thieves brand since 2018 as its first female member, Valkyrae saw a massive surge in popularity when she began streaming alongside DisguisedToast, Sykkuno, Pokimane, Corpse Husband, and Jacksepticeye, regularly seeing a concurrent viewer count over 100,000 on Twitch, typically during Among Us sessions. This success led her to win Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards 2020.
Now, the co-ownership of 100 Thieves marks a new milestone for the female content creator. Valkyrae is joined by CouRageJD, putting themselves alongside the co-owners Scooter Braun, Dan Gilbert, founder Matthew Haag, and rapper Drake. It's not yet known what roles either content creator will assume as co-owners of the company, but each will receive equity in 100 Thieves, which Forbes estimates to be valued at $190 million each.
Like Valkyrae, CouRageJD also streams exclusively for YouTube and began working for 100 Thieves in 2019. Since then, CouRage has taken part in a Fortnite Pro-Am where he partnered with singer-songwriter Brendan Urie in 2019, and he is known to run charity streams. In the wake of the coronavirus, CouRage hosted a 12-hour stream that received $250,000 in donations in the first four hours. By the end, he donated over $500,000 to the Centers for Disease Control to aid the fight against COVID-19.
While this is certainly an amazing feat for both content creators, much of the attention turns toward Valkyrae as the first woman of color to co-own an esports team at just 29 years old. In the announcement, Haag said the two "deserve recognition for what they've for the company to date," and the co-ownership will allow for further strategic input on collaboration and content creation.
These new roles will allow both Valkyrae and CouRage to be more involved with 100 Thieves' business strategy in ways such as identifying and bringing on talent, which Valkyrae has already begun doing by announcing 100 Thieves' interest in new faces on Twitter. However, fans of the streamers probably shouldn't expect a change in their everyday content, as they will continue with the streams viewers have come to enjoy.
Source: Forbes