Who is Leena Xu?
Aileena Xu was born on 17 April 1993, in the United States of America, and is a streamer as well as a business executive, best known for being the president of the eSports organization Team Solo Mid (TSM). She has been with the team since its inception during the early days of League of Legends (LoL).
The Net Worth of Leena Xu
As of early-2020, Leena Xu’s net worth is estimated to be over $700,000, earned through a successful career in business. Her work with TSM has helped elevate her wealth significantly, as TSM has become one of the top-earning and valued organizations in the eSports world in recent years. This led her to be featured in the respected “Forbes” magazine.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Very little is known about Leena before her rise to fame as the president of TSM. She is of Asian descent though she has not talked about her family or her past. In 2012, she began dating Andy Dinh who was a professional gamer at the time, working with the team he created called Team SoloMid. This team competed in professional tournaments in LoL, becoming one of the first recognizable teams in the game.
LoL was created by Riot Games and is a MOBA or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, a genre popularized by the “Warcraft III” mod, “Defense of the Ancients” or DOTA.
The game was created with the help of former developers of DOTA. The premise is similar, with five players fighting against another five, with each controlling a champion selected from a large pool. The goal of each game is to destroy the opposing Nexus or main structure in the opponent’s base.
The Rise of TSM
Xu worked alongside Dinh in handling a lot of the work behind the scenes, setting up promotions, working on their online presence, and dealings with other companies. She also helped with marketing, recruiting, and acted as a support for the team. Eventually, TSM would become one of the most popular North American teams in the league and was winning championships.
I’M HEREEEEE :dhttps://t.co/US1V9vrF2a
— Leena Xu (@leena_xu) March 22, 2020
This eventually led to Dinh retiring from his position so that he could focus more on the business side of the team. They also broke up sometime after, but she opted to stay with the company as she had already helped it grow.
TSM slowly acquired more players, not only in League of Legends (LoL) but other popular games with competitive scenes as well. They sponsored competitors in “Hearthstone”, “Fortnite”, “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” and “Apex Legends”. They quickly established themselves in new territory, prioritizing newer games as opposed to those with long-established player bases.
This was partly because it proved difficult to enter established games such as “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive”, “Rainbow Six Siege”, and “DotA 2” which already had many competitors, other eSports companies holding teams within. One of the things that made TSM standout was their promotion and work outside of gaming. They had a regular schedule, hired lifestyle coaches, prioritized building relationships between team members, and did a lot of promotional work to help increase their presence.
The Success of TSM
In late 2018, TSM was named as one of the most valuable eSports companies in the world, ranking second overall, valued at $250 million and with revenue of at least $25 million a year.
They employed over 40 players with a presence in seven popular games. Andy Dinh and Leena Xu were both named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 which is a list of industry figures and businesses who are at the top of their respective fields while being under the age of 30.
Leena, as noted by the publication, was responsible for helping TSM, bringing in big sponsors such as Chipotle for the TSM “Fortnite” team. Her online presence and promotions were also responsible for doubling the TSM fan base in a short period. In 2015, she was responsible for creating the web series “TSM: Legends” which followed the lives of the members of the “LoL” TSM team as they prepare for tournaments throughout the year.
Recent Projects
Apart from her work with TSM, Xu has been busy with other projects that have helped in building her wealth. She streams from time to time, having an online presence on the website Twitch. The website is known for popularizing video game streaming, in which visitors can view and donate to people streaming their games online. She doesn’t play LoL as much anymore, but plays a lot more “CS: GO” games and occasionally plays “World of Warcraft”. Her channel has been more focused on hosting other popular streamers and TSM personalities.
She’s also ventured into modeling, working with some of her friends. On one occasion, she modeled bridal wear which led to speculation that she was getting married, but she confirmed that it was only a shoot for a friend. Since she manages a lot of TSM’s behind-the-scenes work, she doesn’t appear online as often as she used to. Based on her posts, she goes along with TSM during various events, including gatherings, or visits to locations such as Disneyland. She also loves going to parties and music events, dressing up, wearing cosplay, and showcasing the more sensual side to her.
Personal Life
Leena started dating Andy Dinh sometime in 2012 and they stayed together for a few years, even streaming and playing games together when Andy wasn’t busy preparing for a tournament. They quietly broke up a few years later without any word from the two. They now maintain a working relationship, enjoying the success of the company they built together. She’s been rumored to be romantically connected with TSM player Yiliang Peng, also known under his online name DoubleLift. It was later confirmed that the two are best friends more than anything, and that she is still single. This has led to a lot of jokes on Yiliang’s end, mostly about how he’s in the friend zone, and how people sympathize with his situation.