Richard Bengtson (better known by his nickname Ricky Banks or FaZe Banks, born October 18, 1991), is an American skillful gamer, Youtube star and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, California. He is the current COO of the FaZe Clan.

Along with his vlogging activities, Banks is a producer, composer, and songwriter. Banks was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and later relocated to Lowell, Massachusetts where he went to high school. He now lives in the Clout House in Los Angeles. It was initially a single four-storey compound that was 12,500 square feet and had a price tag of $12 million along with a monthly rent of $34,000. In June of 2018, it expanded to a three-mansion compound comprised of an ever-changing group of influencers, professional gamers and content creators. FaZe Banks said on Twitter that with the two new properties he now pays over $100,000 in rent each month. His housemates when he moved in were: Alissa Violet , RiceGum, Sommer Ray , Carrington Durham , TeaWap, Ryan Swaze , Ugly God and FaZe Kay. 21 Savage is his neighbor. ^[13]

Banks shared that he developed an Adderall addiction in 2016. He has been vocal about his battle with mental health and has been known to struggle with depression. He has a bald spot on his head that he covers with a hat most of the time. His body is riddled in tattoos, most of which were drawn by celebrity tattoo artist Romeo Lacoste. ^{[16] [21]}

FaZe Banks has an estimated net worth of $3,000,000. He drives a five-door Range Rover Evoque SE. Banks appeared in the Machine Gun Kelly music video, "I Think I'm Okay" alongside Halsey and Noah Cyrus. ^[19][20]

He used to be in a relationship with Alissa Violet who previously dated Jake Paul back in 2015. While they were together they would regularly post affectionate videos about one another on their Youtube channels. Banks once bought her a $100,000 car and captured her reaction. He even got the number 68 tattooed on his arm becuse of a time he asked Alissa to choose a number between 1-100 and they both blurted out "68!". The two broke up in July of 2019 after dating for two years. ^[4]

In December of 2019, Alissa broke the silence on what happened.

She explained thst she'd caught him blatantly cheating and had suspected it several times before.

She also explained that he had a rage problem and wouldn't take responsibility for their dogs.

^[14]

Ricky responded by attempting to turn the other cheek and appeal to pity: ^[15]

His last word on the issue was a plea for privacy: ^[15]

Banks first started his Youtube channel in September 2011 under the name BanksHasBank. Banks started out by creating short 30 - 60 second clips of trickshots on games like Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Black Ops III and CS:GO for his first videos on the FaZe Banks channel. After associating himself with the FaZe Clan in 2013, he changed his name to FaZe Banks. Before that, Banks was a member of SoaR and was "SoaR Banks". He also used to collaborate with the gaming clan Optic.

He climbed his way up the ranks and eventually became the COO of FaZe Clan, which sports 106 members with expertise in numerous games such Fortnite, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty and others. Many of them are well known content creators on Youtube and Twitch. Some of the members are celebrities in their own right like Lil Yachty and NFL player JuJu Smith-Schuster. ^[13]

He also formed the CloutGang Youtube group and started a podcast with popular YouTuber Keemstar, called "Moms Basement". They feature guests like Adam22, Lil Xan, Shane Dawson, Nick Crompton, KSI and more. ^[13]

Banks revealed on May 10, 2020, that FaZe Clan had created a skin gambling site "CSGO WILD" and used its lucrative success to initially fund the club’s CSGO team, as originally reported by Esports Talk.

"It was kind of like a grey area, because it’s a skin and there’s no actual value to it, and the government puts absolutely no value to it," Banks said on an episode of the 'BADNWZ' podcast.

"We came up with this idea, with these kids, for a different way to do it.

We branded it the right way."^[68][69]

After finding their reliable income from CSGO skin gambling, FaZe were raking in about $200,000 a day from their novel business model.

Banks and his partners flew to Antigua in the Caribbeans, where they faced less stringent regulations for creating a gambling site, allowing them to lawfully navigate their operation. Banks paid "the guy who runs the island"$100,000 to acquire the documentation they needed to be "the only ones who were doing it legitimate" before skin gambling was regulated. ^[68]

Banks is a popular vlogger on Youtube, having over 5.4 million subscribers. He also has 2.5 million followers on Twitter where he goes by the handle @banks and 2.8 million followers on Instagram where he goes by the handle @banks. The Instagram for his clothing line which goes by the handle @l00sechange has over 107,000 followers. ^[3][2][17]

FaZe Banks started a clothing line called L00sechange, which is pronounced "loose change" in 2017.

The Instagram for the brand grew to over 100,000 followers and the first collection completely sold out. FaZe Clan also designed a limited edition collection in collaboration with Gumball 3000 and Clout Gang. ^[18]

In 2017, Banks was accused of assaulting Megan Zelly a member of Jake Paul's “Team 10” at a nightclub in Los Angeles, California. Everyone had a contradicting story and Jake Paul initially announced the incident on his Youtube channel. A Team 10 member named Max Beaumont acted as an intermediary so everyone could tell their side of the story. The court of public opinion decided that Banks didn't assault Meg, but might have accidentally harmed her while intoxicated. This was reflected in their follower accounts by the end of the incident. Jake lost 200,000 followers and Faze Banks gained 1,000,000 followers on Youtube the following week. ^[7][8]

In late 2017, Alissa Violet and Ricky Banks were involved in a bar fight at the Barley House, a popular bar in Cleveland, Ohio. Banks initially uploaded a story to Snapchat claiming he had been choked out by a bouncer after Alissa was sexually assaulted by a bouncer who grabbed her rear. Ricky was left with several broken fingers and Alissa had a black eye and fat lip. ^[9]

Fans subsequently flooded the bar and owners with hate mail and death threats.

The owners released CCTV footage showing a different story than Banks claimed. The footage shows that Banks and Alissa were the aggressors. No bouncer ever choked out Banks, but the couple did get into a fight with other patrons outside, Banks even sucker punched someone. ^[9][10]

At one point, FaZe Banks was nearly held in contempt of court for making a Youtube about what happened after a restraining order restricted from from doing so. He eschewed the charge but still payed damages in the lawsuit.^[8]

On May 20, 2019, Tfue sued FaZe Clan for allegedly limiting his career growth.

The lawsuit alleges that Banks tricked Tfue into a predatory contract and pressured him into drinking alcohol and illegally gambling at the Clout Mansion before he was 21.

^[8]

Banks responded by pointing out that Tfue has posted videos of alcohol fueled antics by his own volition, including one time when a BB was shot through someone's cheek.

He also states that he helped Tfue make millions of dollars and hardly kept any of it.

^[8]

On May 22, 2019, Tfue asked Banks to release the contract so people could judge for themselves.

Banks did release the contract which stated that Tfue only receives 80% of brand deals, 50% of merchandise, 50% brand deals, 50% appearance fees, and 20% Prize Pools.

Which is a pretty good deal considering the promotion and networking made available to him.

^[8]

Banks has several "rage compilations" out there showing times when he's melted down on camera.

The man who stands 6 '5 has gotten into fights, smashed appliances, and emptied water bottles in situations where he's visibly bothered.

His ex, Alissa Violet, has accused him of smashing eight phones as well as a car window.^[11]

On October 30, 2019, Ricky destroyed a hotel room in Las Vegas, Nevada breaking the TV, windows and ripping up the floor. ^[12]