Irishman Diarmuid Early emerged onto the HyperX arena in Las Vegas under the bright lights, dramatic music, and fanfare worthy of any major sporting final.

Only this time, instead of a ball there was a keyboard and mouse, and the playing field a humble desktop setup.

Dubbed the “LeBron James of Excel spreadsheets”, Galway born and Waterford raised Diarmuid is now the world’s best worksheet whizz.

He won the 2025 Microsoft Excel World Championships, where a $60,000 (£45,726) prize pot has propelled the computer program from the office into a high stakes spectacle.

The esport showpiece attracted competitors worldwide as 256 spreadsheet heads battled it out across knockout rounds to join the final 24 in Vegas.

It may sound bizarre, but Diarmuid described how the intense atmosphere of the finals lives up to the buzz.

“Most of the time you’re playing at home by yourself and it’s pretty calm and low-key,” he said.

“But when you get to Vegas, it’s just outrageous. You just hear everybody roaring, but you have no idea why, it’s hectic.

“It happens in this esports arena with hundreds of people in stands of seats watching and shouting, with commentators calling the shots.

“They give you headphones, but they’re not noise cancelling, and even if they were I don’t know if that would be enough.”

Vegas is a far-cry from the workplace, but the tournament was every bit as competitive.

Diarmuid explained that timed eliminations begin in the last round, so every five minutes, those in last place get knocked out.

“So you’re just settling in, kind of figuring out how this is going to work, and you’ll just hear thanks for playing you’re out,” he said.

“You’re constantly watching your back.”

A three-time champion in the financial Excel tournaments, this win was Diarmuid’s first in the overall competition.

He held the triple-world champion Andrew Ngai to second place, and won the $5,000 prize and title belt.

“It was super exciting,” Diarmuid told BBC News NI.

“I’ve gone in as one of the pre-tournament favourites, and I have a record of choking.

“So it was nice to deliver for once.”

He added: “My mum had woke up and caught like the last 10 or 15 minutes of the final in Ireland.

“It’s like an eight hour time difference so she was waking up and tuning in.”

Excel esports transforms a common office tool into a dynamic sport.

More than 20 years old, the competitive scene has evolved from being finance based to now involving more general problem solving.

Although it might help, Diarmuid said “it doesn’t require accounting or finance knowledge”.

He described an example where Excel is used in solving a maze, scoring poker hands, or even sorting Kings and Queens into the battles in which they fought.

Generally there is a 30 minute challenge, with each challenge broken up into levels.

The questions increase gradually in difficulty, with each correct answer gaining a player points.

Whoever gets the most points wins, and in a tie, it is whoever got there first.

“It’s just, can you think on your feet and do things quickly in Excel?” he said.

“If you solve the earlier levels in a neat way, that’ll let you hit the ground running faster on the later ones.”

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Now living in New York, Diarmuid has set up his own financial business, where his skills and proficiency as a spreadsheet whizz haven’t gone unnoticed.

“I’ve had clients approach me like, hey, we heard that there’s this Excel competition and there’s this guy who wins it.

“He’s in New York and we’re in New York and you know, can we work together?”

Asked if he would consider starting a TikTok or Instagram account, he laughed.

“That sounds terrible.

“Well I have a YouTube channel, so I post my walkthroughs and live solves on that.”

Despite his hesitance for short-form social media, the competitive Excel scene continues to grow on various platforms.

For anyone looking to get into the spreadsheeting madness, now looks as good a time as any.

“There’s a super active community, we’ve got this giant Whatsapp group for the different things people want to talk about.

“We’re kind of adding new people to that all the time,” he said.

“A lot of people approach you as well for help trying to get into the scene. I get that a lot.”

Diarmuid is known as “Dim” to fans of the esport, but Investor’s Business Daily piece headlined “Meet the LeBron James Of Excel Spreadsheets” has struck a chord in the community.

Asked for his thoughts on being compared to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, he said “I mean, the name seems to have staying power”.

Having a laugh, he added: “It must be because I’m so unusually tall.

“I try not to take myself too seriously, I enjoy it for the comedy side and try to leave it at that.”

Are you an Excel whizz? Signups are now live for the first “Road to Las Vegas Battle” taking place on January 22, 2026