Ninja has hilarious response to CNBC claiming nobody knows his real name

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins had the perfect response for a guest CNBC analyst that failed to do their due diligence and made the interesting claim that “nobody knows” the streaming superstar’s real name.

While Ninja may have blossomed into one of the most popular gaming icons with his blue hair and flashy Fortnite plays, it turns out that he actually has a real identity beyond his popular gaming alias. 

Blevins was recently a focal point during a June 25 financial segment on CNBC. Internet and media analyst Laura Martin joined host Kelly Evans on the show, and the pair discussed the market value of Amazon’s Twitch following the shock closure of Microsoft’s Mixer on June 22.

At the top of the segment, Martin referenced “a video gamer named Ninja,” but proved she may not know everything there is to learn about the world of gaming as she suggested, seemingly completely seriously, that “he has a real name, but nobody knows what it is.”

This line caught fire on social media and almost instantly went viral after industry expert Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau shared it around. As a result of this, the clip soon caught the attention of Ninja himself, who had a hilarious reaction CNBC’s strange claim.

Opting not to unload on CNBC and the analyst, he replied with a simple GIF instead: a commonly-used image of Pablo Escobar, as portrayed by Wagner Moura in the mega-hit Netflix series, Narcos. This was all he needed to convey his emotions.

Reading between the lines on the GIF, the streaming star must have been dumbfounded by CNBC’s hilarious claim.

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Ninja has spent years putting in the effort to bring himself and gaming culture into the mainstream eye, so copping an accidental slight like this from one of America’s biggest networks may have stung a little.

The relevant section of the CNBC segment begins at the 24-second mark.

Naturally, such an amusing moment coupled with Ninja’s reaction, led to all manner of internet personalities replying in kind. One was fellow Fortnite star and YouTube personality Lannon ‘LazarBeam’ Eacott, who joked he had “never heard of Ninja,” which meant he “mustn’t be that famous.”

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“Who?” Tim ‘TimTheTatman’ Betar also bluntly joked after seeing the clip. The two often squad-up while playing games together on-stream, so once Ninja finds a new home post-Mixer shutdown, there’s every chance Betar may use this hilarious moment as an ongoing rib.

Given the recent closure of Mixer, Ninja reportedly walked away with $30 million for his time spent exclusive to the Microsoft-owned platform.

Only time will tell where he opts to stream next, but hopefully, when he does announce his big news, industry analysts will be able to recall his real name.