Earning a significant amount of money as a young person always has its pitfalls and we have heard the story of several young men and women who suffered one thing or the other after making it big at an early age.
These stories exist in every industry including esports which is dominated largely by young people.
One such young person is NuckleDu, who at 27 is still a very young man. But, he was even much younger when he won his first Capcom Cup in 2016 which was about 7 years ago which would put him at 20-years of age.
He won a significant amount then and according to him, didn't pay his taxes.
He intimated this during his winner's interview at the just concluded Capcom Pro Tour 2023 US/Canada East tournament where he won first place and is on his way to Capcom Cup. In the interview, among other things, he gave advise to younger players who are coming after him that they shouldn't make the mistake that he did not paying taxes on his winnings. Due to his blunder, he owes the IRS money, and has to pay quite a bit every month to keep things going.
This is valuable advise with so many young players coming into the FGC and doing really well.
An example is Paladin, a 16-year-old, who is really doing well in tournaments and is easily one of the best Ryus in the world.
Ultra David, who was interviewing NuckleDu along with Vicious, commented that such a mistake is avoided with the right kind of crowd around a person, and he thanked NuckleDu for sharing and helping others who might have needed to hear it.
NuckleDu now has a chance to compete in Capcom Cup next month and if he wins the $1,000,000 or even any of the amounts in the top 4, it would go a long way in helping to pay off his debt.
With his win, there is now only one more CPT tournament to play which is the US Midwest. Capcom Cup will hold between February 21st to 25th 2024.