Valkyrae’s net worth is estimated at $10 million, according to a September 3, 2026 update to Celebrity Net Worth. The streamer and entrepreneur, whose real name is Rachell Hofstetter, built that estimate across Twitch and YouTube streaming, three exclusive platform contracts, an ownership stake in 100 Thieves, television hosting, merchandise, and her own entertainment studio.
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From Moses Lake to a GameStop counter
Rachell Marie Hofstetter was born on January 8, 1992, in Moses Lake, Washington, and grew up in a family of Filipino and German ancestry with three brothers and a younger sister. She has said she first fell in love with video games at around six years old, playing at a babysitter’s house.
Before streaming paid anything, Hofstetter lived a thoroughly ordinary working life. She earned an associate degree at community college while cycling through jobs at a bank, a car wash, an arcade, a restaurant, and GameStop. The GameStop job nudged her toward content creation: she started a gaming Instagram account, and followers there encouraged her to try livestreaming. In 2015, she began broadcasting on Twitch under the name Valkyrae, a twist on “Valkyrie” fused with her nickname Rae.
For a stretch she kept the day jobs while streaming on the side. She has recalled the moment streaming income started exceeding her traditional paychecks, and she gradually quit the other work to become a full-time creator.
100 Thieves and the Fortnite wave
Valkyrae’s audience grew sharply during the rise of “Fortnite,” and in 2018 the esports and lifestyle company 100 Thieves, founded by former professional gamer Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, signed her as its first female content creator. The affiliation moved her to Los Angeles and put her in the orbit of the organization’s esports, entertainment, and streetwear operations.
The YouTube deal and the Among Us boom
In January 2020, Valkyrae left Twitch for an exclusive livestreaming agreement with YouTube. The terms were never disclosed, though Forbes later described Google’s exclusive agreements with major streamers, Valkyrae among them, as multimillion-dollar deals. She has said she ultimately signed three YouTube contracts covering approximately five years of exclusivity.
The move looked risky at first: she had nearly one million Twitch followers, and her early YouTube streams drew modest crowds. Then came “Among Us” in 2020. Valkyrae’s sessions with creators including Pokimane, Disguised Toast, and Sykkuno turned the social-deduction game into a phenomenon, and the circle occasionally pulled in guests far outside gaming, including a segment for Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show.”
According to Stream Hatchet, Valkyrae accumulated 23.6 million hours watched during 2020, narrowly ahead of Pokimane as the year’s most-watched female streamer. In December 2020, she won Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards. She later collected a Streamy Award for livestreaming, Adweek named her its Gaming Creator of the Year, and Forbes included her on its 30 Under 30 Games list in 2022.
From employee to co-owner
In April 2021, 100 Thieves announced that Valkyrae and fellow creator CouRageJD had joined its ownership group, alongside investors including Nadeshot, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, Scooter Braun, and Drake. In December 2021, the company raised $60 million in a Series C round at a reported $460 million valuation. Her ownership percentage has never been disclosed, so that dated valuation cannot price her stake, but it marks the scale of the company she bought into. Per the September 3, 2026 Celebrity Net Worth update, she remains identified by 100 Thieves as a co-owner.
The RFLCT lesson
Not every venture worked. In October 2021, Valkyrae launched RFLCT, a skincare line marketed around protection from blue light from screens, as its public face and co-founder. Dermatologists, viewers, and fellow creators quickly questioned the evidence behind the claims. Valkyrae said she had expected supporting research to be published and called the criticism valid. Less than two weeks after launch, RFLCT was terminated and its products were pulled from Ulta Beauty. She has described the episode as a turning point in how selective she is about lending her name to outside businesses.
Back on Twitch, and bigger than streaming
Valkyrae’s five years of YouTube exclusivity ended in January 2025, and on her birthday that month, roughly the tenth anniversary of her first stream, she returned to Twitch. Rather than abandoning YouTube, where her main channel has passed four million subscribers per the September 3, 2026 Celebrity Net Worth update, she shifted into a multi-platform phase spanning livestreams, edited videos, podcasts, and in-person events.
Her work has steadily crossed into traditional entertainment. She appeared as herself alongside Mark Wahlberg in the 2023 Apple film “The Family Plan,” voiced Squad Commander Red in Netflix’s animated “Sonic Prime,” and appeared in music videos including Bella Poarch’s “Build a Bitch” and Machine Gun Kelly’s “DayWalker.” In 2025, she and Fanum hosted “Inside: USA,” the American edition of the Sidemen’s reality competition, which premiered on Netflix on September 21, 2025, according to Netflix. She is also part of the voice cast of “Iron Lung,” Markiplier’s self-financed feature directorial debut, which opened January 30, 2026 (per IBTimes, Variety).
In 2024, she launched Hihi Studios with media executive Kai Gayoso to develop original anime- and manga-inspired intellectual property. Its first major property, the science-fiction webtoon “Bad Influence,” arrived as a WEBTOON Original in 2025. She has said the long-term goal is work that does not require her on camera: intellectual property that can generate value for years.
How Valkyrae makes her money
The $10 million estimate reflects a diversified creator business rather than a single platform paycheck:
- Platform contracts. Three successive exclusive YouTube agreements across roughly five years, described by Forbes as multimillion-dollar deals, plus ordinary Twitch and YouTube revenue from advertising, subscriptions, and donations.
- 100 Thieves equity. A co-ownership stake since April 2021 in the company last publicly valued at $460 million in December 2021; her percentage is undisclosed.
- Sponsorships. Ambassador and partnership deals including HyperX, Gymshark, and Alienware, which added her to its ambassador program in 2025.
- Merchandise. A direct-to-consumer store selling apparel, jewelry, and limited collections.
- Entertainment. Acting and voice roles, her Netflix hosting turn on “Inside: USA,” podcasts including “Press Esc” and “Wine About It” with QTCinderella, and Hihi Studios.
Perhaps the clearest sign of what streaming changed for her: Valkyrae has said she was able to retire her mother, cover her living expenses, and buy homes for her mother and her sister.
Valkyrae net worth timeline
- 2015: Starts streaming on Twitch while working retail jobs, including GameStop.
- 2018: Signs with 100 Thieves as the organization’s first female content creator.
- January 2020: Leaves Twitch for an exclusive YouTube streaming deal.
- 2020: Rides the “Among Us” wave to 23.6 million hours watched, the most of any female streamer that year per Stream Hatchet; wins Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards in December 2020.
- April 2021: Joins the 100 Thieves ownership group as a co-owner.
- October 2021: RFLCT skincare launches and is terminated within two weeks after criticism of its claims.
- December 2021: 100 Thieves raises $60 million at a reported $460 million valuation.
- 2023: Appears in the Apple film “The Family Plan.”
- 2024: Launches Hihi Studios and the “Press Esc” podcast; appears in MrBeast’s “50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000.”
- January 2025: Returns to Twitch after five years of YouTube exclusivity.
- September 2025: Hosts Netflix’s “Inside: USA” with Fanum.
- January 30, 2026: “Iron Lung,” in which she is part of the voice cast, opens in theaters.
- September 3, 2026: Celebrity Net Worth updates her estimated net worth to $10 million.
Watch: Valkyrae’s WIRED Autocomplete interview
Valkyrae answers the web’s most searched questions about her streaming career, her setup, and her sword collection in this WIRED interview from August 2024:
Valkyrae net worth FAQ
What is Valkyrae’s net worth in 2026?
Valkyrae’s net worth is estimated at $10 million, according to a September 3, 2026 update to Celebrity Net Worth. The figure is an estimate, not a disclosed financial statement.
What is Valkyrae’s real name?
Rachell Marie Hofstetter, born January 8, 1992, in Moses Lake, Washington. The double-L spelling of Rachell, she has said, came from a nurse’s mistake on her birth certificate.
Is Valkyrae still a co-owner of 100 Thieves?
Yes, per the September 3, 2026 Celebrity Net Worth update, she remains identified by 100 Thieves as a co-owner. She joined the ownership group in April 2021; her stake percentage has never been disclosed.
Where does Valkyrae stream now?
After five years of YouTube exclusivity, she returned to Twitch in January 2025 and now works across multiple platforms, including Twitch, YouTube, podcasts, and live events.
How much of 100 Thieves does Valkyrae own?
Her ownership percentage has never been publicly disclosed. The company was last publicly valued at a reported $460 million in a December 2021 funding round, but without a disclosed percentage, that dated figure cannot be used to price her stake.
Featured image: Valkyrae pictured in 100 Thieves apparel. Photo by Sean Finnegan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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