What is Nathan Chen's Net Worth?
Nathan Chen is a figure skater who has a net worth of $4 million. Nathan Chen is considered to be one of the best athletes in his sport. He has won multiple US and World Championships, and took home the gold in the men's singles competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Known as the "Quad King," Chen is the first skater ever to have landed five different kinds of quadruple jumps in competition.
Early Life and Education
Nathan Chen was born on May 5, 1999 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Chinese immigrant parents Hetty and Zhidong. He has an older sister named Janice who co-founded the company Mammoth Biosciences. As a teen, Chen went to West High School in Utah, and then to Rim of the World High School in California. He eventually graduated from California Connections Academy. On top of his figure skating, Chen did ballet training and participated in gymnastics competitions. For his higher education, he enrolled at Yale University as a data science and statistics major.
Career Beginnings
Chen took part in his first figure skating competition in 2003. Later, from 2007 to 2009, he competed in the US Junior Nationals. In his first two years in that competition, Chen placed 10th and 3rd in the juveniles, respectively. In 2009, he won the men's silver medal at the intermediate level. For the following season, Chen advanced to the novice level, and went on to become the youngest novice champion in US figure skating history when he won the US Championships. After defending his title the next year, he moved up to the junior level; once again, he won his division at the US Championships. Chen continued his incredible success streak over the subsequent years, winning multiple ISU Junior Grand Prix titles and his second US junior title.
Senior Career, 2014-2019
In 2014, Chen made his debut at the senior level, and went on to win the Pacific Sectional Championships in his division. One of his greatest accomplishments came a couple years later at the US Championships, when he became the first American male to land two quadruple jumps in a short program; shortly after this, he became the first male skater to land four quadruples in a long program. Following an injury that required surgery, Chen returned to win gold at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy. Later in the year at the Grand Prix Final, he won silver. Chen had another terrific year in 2017, winning the US title; the Four Continents Championships; the CS US International Figure Skating Classic; and two Grand Prix titles. In 2018, he won his second consecutive US title.
(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Chen became the first Olympic skater ever to land a quad flip. In the team event, he won the bronze medal, but stumbled in the men's singles competition to come in fifth place overall. Chen bounced back to win the World Championships the next month; he later notched his fifth consecutive Grand Prix title and his second Grand Prix Final title. In 2019, Chen won his third consecutive US title and his second consecutive World title. The following season, he won yet another Grand Prix Final.
Senior Career, 2020-2022
In 2020, Chen won his fourth consecutive US title. He was next scheduled to compete at the World Championships, but the event was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When things resumed in 2021, Chen made history by winning his fifth straight US title; he subsequently won his third straight World title, as well. In 2022, he extended his streak by winning his sixth straight US title. More success came for Chen just a month later at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, when he helped lead Team USA to a silver medal in the team event. Even greater was his success in the men's singles competition, where he posted a world record short program score of 113.97 and an Olympic record free skate score of 218.63, for a combined total of 332.60. Landing five quads while skating to selections from the soundtrack of "Rocketman," Chen clinched the gold medal.
Records and Achievements
Considered to be one of the greatest figure skaters in history, Chen has set numerous records on the ice. Among them, he is the first skater to have landed five different kinds of quadruple jumps in competition: the loop, toe loop, flip, Lutz, and Salchow. Additionally, Chen is the first skater to have landed seven clean quads in a single competition, which he did at the 2019 Grand Prix Final. He is also the first Asian-American male to have won a gold medal in the men's singles competition at the Olympics, and is the holder of the highest short program, free skate, and combined scores in both international figure skating and Olympic history.
Honors
Chen has received myriad honors beyond his figure skating medals. He has been honored with the Athlete Alumni Ambassador Award; the Ron and Gayle Hershberger Award; multiple Michael Weiss Foundation Scholarships; and two Gustave Lussi Awards. In 2020, Chen was named to Forbes Magazine's "30 Under 30 Sports List."
