Ask just about any stranger on the street who
Felix Kjellberg is and you’ll likely get a blank
stare. Identify him as PewDiePie, his name on
YouTube—where he’s got almost 40 million
subscribers—and you’ll get a few more positive
responses.
The 25-year-old Swede is the top-earning
YouTube star on the planet, pulling in $12
million pretax over the past year, all for
providing expletive-heavy commentary as he
plays videogames. Thanks to the millions of fans
who make up his “bro army,” advertisers are
willing to pay a pretty penny to have their
products featured in his videos.
In our first-ever ranking of the top-paid YouTube
stars, we have uncovered the 10 channels that
have managed to earn the most from their
Internet aspirations. The minimum to make the
list? $2.5 million in pretax earnings in the year
ending June 1, 2015.
The list measures earnings before subtracting
management fees and taxes. Our figures are
based on data from Nielsen, IMDB and other
sources, as well as on interviews with agents,
managers, lawyers, industry insiders and the
stars themselves.
These 13 DIY filmmakers—directors, producers,
actors all rolled into one—have made millions
doing what members of older generations may
consider more play than work. By commenting
on videogames, serving up comedy, debriefing
about beauty and dancing while playing the
violin, they have attracted millions of fans—and
the money in their (or their parents’) wallets.
One of the only commonalities of the group is
their youth: Most are under 30, and thus only
slightly older than their target audience
members, many of whom are of the generation
that prefers YouTube to old-fashioned television.
“I thought, if [YouTube] is going to be the global
television of the future, I need to build my brand
here,” said Michelle Phan , who uploaded her
first video, a natural makeup tutorial, from a
grainy webcam in 2007. “Within the first week,
40,000 people watched it and hundreds of
comments came in and that’s when I realized I’d
found my calling.”
Most of their earnings comes from
advertisements—both sponsored, integrated
content and the pesky, inescapable previews—
but some of these stars are diversifying into the
television, movie and music industries. The
publishing industry has been especially
welcoming to these stars: Four have books out
or in the pipeline. A few have their own product
lines, selling everything from beanies and
underwear to eyeliner and lip-gloss.
Videogames seems to be one path to making it
big on YouTube. Kjellberg is joined on the list by
KSI, or Olajide Olatunji, a fellow gamer who
made $4.5 million in the past year. The British
commentator has become a sensation across the
pond and has used his following to break into
the music world, with his rap single
“Lamborghini” debuting on the UK Top 40
charts.
Comedians have also found a way to make
YouTube their own: Half of our top-earning
channels primarily feature sketch comedy,
stand-up routines or pranks. Their antics have
earned both Smosh—made up of childhood best
friends Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla—and the
Fine Brothers—Benny and Rafi Fine—$8.5
million, in addition to a movie deal for Smosh
and a Nickelodeon show and Daytime Emmy for
the Fines.
Rhett & Link, aka Rhett McLaughlin and Charles
Lincoln Neal III, have also turned laughs into
serious bucks. The duo made $4.5 million
through various sponsored content deals,
including with Gillette, Wendy’s and Toyota.
Lilly Singh, known to her fans as Superwoman,
earned $2.5 million over the past year with her
jokes, and amassed a global audience: Her
recent tour, A Trip to Unicorn Island, hit over 25
cities worldwide. Roman Atwood, a prankster
and internet age version of Punk’d’s Ashton
Kutcher, has made the same amount through
his jokes and has partnerships with the likes of
Nissan to thank for his millions.
Coming in fourth is Lindsey Stirling, the dancing
violinist—it is more mesmerizing than it sounds
—who’s used YouTube to propel her to fame
and $6 million in earnings over the 12 months to
June. She has put out two albums, Shatter
Me and Lindsey Stirling, scored a book deal and
developed a lucrative touring career.
“It’s a very loyal fan base (that) wants you to
succeed because they found you,” Stirling
recently said of the benefits of a YouTube career
at Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Summit. “It wasn’t some
big radio station or record label that shoved art
down someone’s throat and said this is what’s
cool.”
Michelle Phan may be one of the more well-
known names on the list, but this beauty
entrepreneur lands close to the bottom with $3
million. She is playing the long game,
reinvesting the money made from her cosmetic
line, beauty subscription service and how-to
videos—you, too, can look like Angelina Jolie
and Lady Gaga with the right makeup—into her
brand.
Rounding out the list is Rosanna Pansino, who
made $2.5 million.The self-trained pastry chef
has taken the cooking show format to the
internet and has a cookbook coming out next
month, making her a name to watch for next
year’s list.
When YouTube was founded ten years ago, it
was with the mission “to provide fast and easy
video access and the ability to share videos
frequently.” Now it can add another: minting
young millionaires by the dozen.
No comments:
Post a Comment