Who says chess players are poor?

 Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen, who each have a net worth of $50 million, are the richest chess players in the world. Both players became wealthy through outside commercial enterprises and chess competitions.

Of course, these 2 are the elite of the  chess professional. So emulating them even if you reach Grandmaster status (there are about 2000 GMs in the world) may not even get you close.