Streamer receives $180,000 after long Destiny 2 loan dispute

In 2022 Jake Strauss, who streams as GernaderJake, loaned $100,000 to Evolve PCs, a boutique PC maker then owned by Destiny 2 streamer Ari "TripleWreck" Smith, to keep the business running while it awaited investment. Smith missed the January 1, 2023 repayment deadline, and later in 2023 Evolve was acquired by Gamers First (G1), the esports organisation founded by former NFL safety Kenny Vaccaro.

G1 assumed responsibility for the loan while Smith remained the guarantor. When a new repayment deadline passed, Strauss says he was ghosted by G1 and Vaccaro and filed suit in early 2024. In 2025 Strauss won a summary judgment establishing a fraud claim against Vaccaro, who did not appear; Strauss said Vaccaro owed roughly $245,000 plus interest.

Attempts to collect stalled. Strauss reported in March that he had not recovered the money and had spent another $80,000 on legal fees; Vaccaro’s lawyers then got the summary judgment thrown out after one legal notice went to an incorrect address.

gernaderjake, jake strauss, evolve pcs, ari smith, triplewreck, gamers first, kenny vaccaro, loan dispute, summary judgment, legal fees