Matthew Kai Stonie (born 1991 or 1992)[2][3][4] is an American competitive eater and YouTuber. Stonie won the 2015 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, beating 8-time defending champion Joey Chestnut among others.[5] Stonie has gained fame from his YouTube channel, to which he uploads video footage of his eating challenges.[4]
Stonie was born in San Francisco, California, and raised in San Jose.[6][7] He is of Japanese, Lithuanian and Czech ancestry.[4][6] He graduated from Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose.[8] In 2013, he was listed as weighing 134 pounds (61 kilograms) at a height of 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 meters).[4] His nickname, "Megatoad," is from the character Toad from the Super Mario franchise.[4] Stonie's younger brother Morgan was oftentimes involved with the production of the challenges uploaded to his YouTube channel early in his career.[9]
Stonie's Major League Eating debut was at the Stockton Deep Fried Asparagus Championship in Stockton, California, in 2011.[10] At the time, he was the youngest member of the Major League Eating organization, being 18 years old.[11] His first win came in 2010 in a lobster roll eating contest in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.[4]
On July 4, 2015, Stonie defeated eight-time defending Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut by eating 62 hot dogs to Chestnut's 60.[12]
Stonie has not competed in Major League Eating since 2019 due to a contract dispute, but has continued an independent eating challenge career on YouTube.[13]
As of January 2024, Stonie has amassed over 16.3 million subscribers and 3.62 billion video views on his YouTube channel, with his most viewed video having been viewed over 145 million times.[14]
In August 2022, Stonie partnered with TGI Fridays to release his own franchise of fast casual restaurants, Stonie Bowls.[15] The franchise focuses on large portion rice and poke bowls. Stonie would release the debut announcement of the franchise as a challenge video that urges viewers to beat his time in eating one of the 5 pound ultimate Stonie bowls.[16]
In September 2024, Stonie participated in the opening undercard match of the livestreamed Netflix event Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef. He won a three-minute chicken wing eating contest 53-36 against three Olympians whose scores were added up: water polo player Max Irving and swimmers Ryan Lochte and Ryan Murphy.[17]
According to Major League Eating, Stonie holds several world records in eating.[20][21][22]
| Date | Food | Record | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 28, 2013 | Frozen yogurt | 10.5 pounds of Yogurtland frozen yogurt at Phantom Gourmet Food Festival in 6 minutes | [23] |
| October 26, 2013 | Kookamonga Burger | 7.5 pound burger from the Kooky Canuck in 4 minutes, 43 seconds (Memphis, Tennessee) | |
| March 29, 2014 | Indian taco | 32.5 Indian tacos in 8 minutes (Atmore, Alabama) | [24] |
| July 12, 2014 | Slugburgers | 43 slugburgers in 10 minutes (The World Slugburger Eating Championship Presented by Main Street Corinth) | [25] |
| October 5, 2014 | Pumpkin pie | 20.8 pounds in 8 minutes (Elk Grove Pumpkin Festival) | [26] |
| December 2014 | McDonald's Happy Meal | 15.22 seconds (Fastest Happy Meal eaten) | [27] |
| February 14, 2015 | Birthday cake | 14.5 pounds in 8 minutes (West Palm Beach, Florida) | [28] |
| February 22, 2015 | Bacon | 182 slices of bacon in 5 minutes (Daytona Beach, Florida) | [29] |
| May 8, 2015 | Iguana's Burritozilla | 5 pounds in 1 minute, 50 seconds | [30] |
| June 20, 2015 | Pork sandwiches (8 ounces) | 15 sandwiches in 10 minutes at The Backyard at Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment (East Rutherford, New Jersey) | [31] |
| August 15, 2015 | Traditional carne asada tacos | 103 tacos in 8 minutes (San Jose, California) | |
| October 17, 2015 | Martorano's signature pasta & sauce | 10 pounds in 8 minutes at Martorano's and Paris Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, Nevada) | [32] |
| November 24, 2015 | Smithfield pork ribs | 71 ribs in 5 minutes (Miami, Florida) | [33] |
| May 28, 2016 | Silver dollar pancakes | 113 (1 oz) pancakes in 8 minutes at The World Silver Dollar Pancake Eating Championship (Chico, California) | [34] |
| October 15, 2016 | Moon Pies | 85 Moon Pies in 8 minutes at The World Moon Pie Eating Championship (Memphis, Tennessee) | [35] |
| August 12, 2017 | Chicken spiedies | 20.5 chicken spiedies in 10 minutes at the Tioga Downs World Chicken Spiedie Eating Championship (Nichols, New York) | [36] |
| October 31, 2020 | Halloween candy | 4 lbs, 1.9 oz of Halloween candy in 6 minutes (Las Vegas, Nevada) | [37] |
| April 25, 2021 | Popcorn | 28.5 24oz servings of popcorn in 8 minutes (Las Vegas, Nevada) | [38] |
| July 26, 2021 | Heart Attack Grill burger | 20,000 calorie burger in 4:10 (Las Vegas, Nevada) | [39] |
Henry Stonie...is also survived by his two grandsons, Matthew Kai Stonie and Morgan Joe Stonie.
Let's cut straight to the chase: Matthew Stonie won the 2015 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
The 20-year-old San Jose native...
Stonie, who was born in San Francisco, moved to San Jose, Calif., with his family when he was five years of age and has lived there ever since.
Since Thanksgiving is all about family, I gave my brother his own little turkey.
