Kim Kang-hui, better known as Roach, has played an influential role in T1’s remarkable success in League of Legends.

The talented 26-year-old served as coach as the team won back-to-back world championships in 2023 and 2024.

And fans hope that he’ll return to the fray once he has completed his military service within the next couple of years.

In our analysis of Roach’s net worth, we chart his gaming career and reveal how much he has earned from tournaments and other sources of income.

His full name is Kim Kang-hui. He’s a South Korean involved in League of Legends and is 26 years old at the time of writing in October 2025.

He was most recently a coach on the T1 team before announcing his temporary departure in November 2024 to fulfil his military service obligations.

We’ve based our estimate of his net worth on the $41,411 prize winnings from playing League of Legends over the past decade.

Roach’s total career haul was made over the course of seven years from 15 tournaments, according to Esports Earnings. 

The most successful year was 2020, when he took home $12,797 from two events. This accounts for almost a third of his overall winnings.

His least successful year came in 2022 when he earned $1,490.11, although he was transitioning into coaching around this time.

Roach will have received a salary for his role as a coach at T1, but it’s difficult to gauge as exact figures aren’t publicly available.

The amounts will depend on experience and success, as well as the financial health and status of a particular team.

In a 2022 interview, Nick “LS” De Cesare, a prominent figure within League of Legends, suggested head coaches could earn up to $200,000. 

However, coaches are likely to be paid less than top esports players, whose salaries can be around the $187,000 market, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub.

It’s also understood that Roach has streamed on Twitch in the past. Many gamers earn an income in this way, although actual figures aren’t released.

Roach appears to favour a life out of the limelight and is not thought to own any businesses or hold major investments. 

Very little is known about Roach’s early life, apart from the fact that he was born in South Korea on January 31, 1999.

In late 2015, he joined NaJin e-mFire, a professional South Korean League of Legends team, when he was just 16 years old. Shortly afterwards, it rebranded to Team Kongdoo.

As far as prize winnings are concerned, this period of his life was one of his most lucrative, with $15,567 earned in two years.

Roach earned $5,283.50 from three tournaments with Gen.G Esports that took place between late 2018 and the end of August 2019.

He then moved to the T1 team, where he earned $13,718.05 from three tournaments, including first place in the LCK Spring 2020.

A further $6,842.11 was won as part of T1 Challenges from two events in 2021 and 2022. This included top spot in the LCK Challengers League 2021 Spring.

Roach has achieved the most success in his role as a coach with various T1 teams between 2022 and 2024.

In late 2022, it was announced that Roach would become one of three coaches working with Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong in the 2023 season. 

It proved to be a wise move as he served as coach during a successful patch that saw two world championships and an Esports World Cup achieved, according to Liquipedia.

The team took the 2023 title in South Korea by beating Weibo Gaming 3-0 in the final, with reports stating that T1 looked “a step above” its opponents.

The following year, T1 emerged victorious once again by beating Bilibili Gaming in London’s O2 Arena in an event watched by a peak audience of more than 6.9 million people outside of China.

However, Roach’s time as a coach hasn’t been totally stress-free. In early 2022, while a T1 Challengers coach, he ran into trouble.

It was reported that he would be suspended for four games in the 2022 LCK CK Spring Split and fined three million Korean won after tampering with a contracted player without their team’s permission.

As Roach doesn’t appear to have a big social media presence, it’s unclear how he has been spending his money in recent years.

However, his career and earnings potential are currently on hold as he completes mandatory military service in his home country.

In November 2024, it was announced that Roach would be putting everything on hold while he completes his mandatory military service.

Under current laws, all able-bodied South Korean men over the age of 19 are obliged to serve, according to the Korea Times.

The report explained that the length of military service has been reduced from 30 months to between 18 and 21 months.

The actual time will depend on where individuals serve. It’s 18 months in the Army or Marine Corps, but 20 months in the Navy and 21 months in the Air Force.

In a statement, T1 said: “Today, we part ways with coach ‘Roach’ so that he can fulfil his social service duty. We sincerely thank him for his passion and dedication as both a player and coach for T1 over the past five years. 

“His leadership, especially over the past two years, has been an inspiration to team members and instrumental in leading T1 to become World Champions. 

“We express our deepest gratitude for his unwavering efforts to improve the team, and we look forward to seeing him again in good health.”

Roach also issued a video statement expressing his gratitude to everyone at T1 and to the fans who have supported him in his various roles.

He said: “I’ll be stepping away for a while to fulfil my duty, so it’s with a heavy heart that I announce my temporary departure. With all my experiences as a pro player and coach combined, T1 has become the team I’ve been with the longest. 

“Over these past two years, being with the best team, alongside the best players, head coaches, coaches and all the staff, who provided endless support, has been an incredible journey, especially in these winning moments.

“From my start as a player to now as a coach, it feels so meaningful to have been able to truly help the team. It’s been an unforgettable time for me. And to the fans who have supported me from my days as a player all the way through to my time as a coach, I’ve truly had a lot of fun and felt so much happiness because of you. Thank you so much.”

It’s not known whether Roach supports any particular charities. However, his T1 team has supported several causes.

For example, it recently donated ₩63.74m (~£37,500) to Make-A-Wish Korea through proceeds from its special edition WishMaker jersey sales.

Previously, the team has been involved with campaigns for UNICEF and for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Roach may have made his name in League of Legends, but his net worth pales in comparison to the biggest stars in esports.

His modest career earnings of $41,411 are significantly below the $1.9 million won by Faker.

However, even Faker is poor in comparison to Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, who has won almost $7.2 million from playing Dota 2 tournaments.

Kim “Roach” Kang-hui may not have earned a multi-million-dollar fortune from esports, but he’s certainly enjoyed a great deal of success.

As a T1 coach, he was instrumental in helping the team secure back-to-back world championships in 2023 and 2024.

But any hope of adding a third title has been put on hold for now as he completes at least 18 months of mandatory military service in South Korea.