Forbes has released a list of YouTube’s top-earning stars, taking into account their video advertising profits, merchandise deals and other sources of revenue. From controversial brothers to a toy-loving 7-year-old boy, here is the list of highest-paid YouTubers, according to Forbes.
Ryan, of Ryan’s World, earned $26m (£20m) in 2019, up from $22m in 2018, according to an annual top-10 ranking by Forbes, based on estimated earnings between June 2018 and June 2019.
YouTube accounts Dude Perfect and Nastya came in second and third, with $20m and $18m respectively.
And between them, the 10 highest paid YouTubers of 2019 earned $162m.
List Of Highest Paid YouTube Stars
#10 | VanossGaming (Evan Fong)
Earnings: $11.5 million
Evan Fong, who’s known online as “VanossGaming,” notched over 1.5 billion views in our scoring period with his videos of Grand Theft Auto V and Minecraft.
#9 | DanTDM (Daniel Middleton)
Earnings: $12 million
The British Minecraft and Fortnite player has long been one of the most popular on YouTube. He has a worldwide audience and takes his live tour to fans across the globe.
#8 (tie)| Markiplier (Mark Fischbach)
Earnings: $13 million
Mark Fischbach, more commonly known by his online name “Markiplier,” is a favorite for sponsors looking to reach the gaming community. He’s also promoting himself; he and fellow YouTuber Jacksepticeye cofounded Cloak, a high-end line of clothing for gamers.
#7 (tie)| PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg)
Earnings: $13 million
Once YouTube’s top-earning star, the gamer, who was born Felix Kjellberg, has managed to shrug off a number of controversies—including racist and anti-Semitic videos. He announced this month, though, that he’s taking a break from YouTube.
#6 | Preston (Preston Arsement)
Earnings: $14 million
One of two newcomers on this year’s list, Preston Arsement got his start playing Call of Duty and quickly became so popular that he started posting friendly pranks in addition to his gaming content. Outside of YouTube, his biggest moneymakers are the Minecraft servers he runs for seven figures annually.
#5 | Jeffree Star
Earnings: $17 million
After getting his start as a musician on MySpace, Jeffree Star moved to YouTube, where he found a following doing makeup tutorials. He now uses his channel to tout his makeup line, which he says does at least eight figures in revenue thanks to its popular lipsticks, highlighters and eye shadow palettes.
#4 | Rhett and Link
Earnings: $17.5 million
Two of YouTube’s first stars, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, host Good Mythical Morning, one of YouTube’s most popular daily show on which they eat foods like Cheetos-flavored Pop-Tarts and sing with stars like Kelly Rowland. They’ve expanded their brand of comedy to four channels, a podcast, two books and, earlier this year, purchased the multichannel network Smosh for a reported $10 million.
#3 | Anastasia Radzinskaya
Earnings: $18 million
The Russian-born 5-year-old has become one of the world’s fastest-growing creators, thanks to videos in seven languages that feature her playing with her dad on her channels including Like Nastya. Brands have noticed, with Legoland and Dannon shelling out at six figures to work with her.
#2 | Dude Perfect
Earnings: $20 million
Five friends in their 30s—Coby Cotton, Cory Cotton, Garret Hilbert, Cody Jones and Tyler Toney—play sports, perform stunts and break Guinness World Records. Their videos, like “Bowling Trick Shots” and “Bubble Wrap Battle,” helped them score a TV contract The Dude Perfect Show, which airs on Nickelodeon.
#1 | Ryan Kaji
Earnings: $26 million
Eight-year-old Kaji got his start on the channel when he was just 3 years old by unboxing toys on camera. He’s matured to conducting science experiments and branched out beyond YouTube with a line of more than 100 toys, clothing items and more, a show on Nickelodeon and a deal with Hulu.
METHODOLOGY: All earnings estimates are from June 1, 2018, through June 1, 2019. Figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Earnings estimates are based on data from Captiv8, SocialBlade and Pollstar as well as interviews with industry insiders. For the list’s purposes, Forbes defines a YouTube Star as someone whose primary form of digital and media revenue comes from YouTube.
