fbpx
Filter by Categories
Brand Awareness
Competitive Analysis

Top 10 Highest-Paid YouTube Stars Earning Millions

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

A million hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, making it the third most visited website in the world. More than 1.3 billion people visit YouTube every month.

In addition, almost 5 billion people watch YouTube videos daily, with over 300 million visitors daily.

There are plenty of opportunities to make money and become the next YouTube millionaire with this staggering statistic.

One interesting fact is that internet users and people watching online videos are still rising.

On average, one billion YouTube videos are viewed daily on mobile devices.

In today’s world, there are still many people without access to the internet, and smartphones have made accessibility easier, faster, and more convenient.

You are still in time to become a YouTube millionaire and earn money from it, and the timing is right.

Founded by three PayPal employees in 2005, YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim out of an office above a San Mateo restaurant.

In 2004, YouTube hosted over two million videos per day and had over 20 million daily active users, with the first video uploaded being “Me at the Zoo,” featuring Karim.

Google acquired YouTube in late 2006 for $1.65 billion, which was considered a massive move for a startup that still needed to show an intention or ability to generate profit. Instead, it is regarded as one of the most brilliant acquisitions of the last two decades.

Time magazine featured YouTube as a person of the year the same year. The person in question was ‘you,’ specifically content creators, and the cover featured a mirror instead of YouTube. 

During YouTube’s growth, more features were developed for content creators, including ratings, comments, embeds, live streaming, and revenue sharing.

YouTube trivia tidbits

YouTube has helped launch the careers of many celebrities, with vlogging, gaming, and comedy initially dominating the channel.

YouTube today has hundreds of channels with millions of subscribers covering almost every subject, with Ryan’s World being the highest-grossing channel of 2021.

With the launch of its premium service in 2014, YouTube aimed to counter adblocking’s revenue loss.

After failing to reach 10 million subscribers, YouTube Red relaunched as YouTube Premium and, by 2020, had gained 30 million subscribers with ad-free YouTube Music viewing.

As a video entertainment platform, YouTube began offering live streaming around that time to counter Twitch’s growth.

Twitch still dominates game streaming, but YouTube’s live streams provide channels with another way to interact with audiences.

The YouTube platform recently launched Shorts, a clone of TikTok with different interfaces and shorter videos.

 According to some analysts, YouTube’s massive reach of over two billion active users makes it the best competitor to TikTok.

Read on below to learn more about YouTube statistics.

Key YouTube statistics

In 2021, YouTube generated $28.8 billion in revenue, an increase of 46% from the previous year.

The number of people who access YouTube once a month exceeds 2.5 billion

T-Series is YouTube’s most subscribed channel, but Mr. Beast earned the most revenue in 2021

The number of YouTube Premium subscribers reached 50 million in 2021

YouTube stars making millions on the platform

With earnings of 54 million U.S. dollars in 2021, YouTube MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) was estimated to be the top-earning YouTuber in the world.

The second highest earner was Jake Paul, with an estimated 45 million U.S. dollars.

Seven-year-old Anastasia Radzinskaya, who goes by Nastya on her various channels, earned 28 million dollars last year, surpassing YouTuber Ryan Kaji for the first time.

YouTube was founded in 2005 and is one of the most popular social media platforms worldwide. Its global penetration rate among the online population was 81 percent as of the first quarter of 2015.

The most subscribed YouTube channels of December 2020 included famous music artists, video game commentators, and comedians.

While many of these current YouTube celebrity channels have professional video production values and are committed full-time to YouTube videos, they depend on user-generated content for their videos, such as make-up tutorials and video game commentary.

Ryan ToysReview, which reviews toys for children, was the most-viewed YouTube channel in September.

MrBeast – $54 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CTp1a-aCUM

A 24-year-old American personality, Jimmy Donaldson runs five YouTube channels: MrBeast (his main channel), Beast Philanthropy, MrBeast 2, and MrBeast Gaming.

He was born in Greenville, United States, on May 7, 1998.

According to a tweet he posted in 2019, he graduated from Greenville Christian Academy, a private school in the area. He attended East Carolina University for a brief period but dropped out after his mother forced him to leave home.

According to an influencer and gaming site called Dexerto, MrBeast has 112 million subscribers on YouTube. On November 14, MrBeast, run by Jimmy Donaldson, officially supplanted PewDiePie, run by Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg. He now has 111 million subscribers on the video platform.

MrBeast became the second person after PewDiePie to surpass 100 million subscribers on his main channel on July 28.

Throughout his YouTube career, MrBeast has also given his followers, family, and friends several luxurious vehicles, mansions, and money, apart from money. He has also built a reputation for his viral giveaway contests. In the most charitable instance, MrBeast donated $10,000 to a homeless man in a video that went viral on his YouTube channel.

He was named the 9th Breakout Creator of the Year at the 9th Streamy Awards.

The following year, he was named the “big winner” of the 10th annual Streamy Awards, winning Creator of the Year, Social Good: Creator, and Social Good: Nonprofit or NGO.

In the 11th Streamy Awards, he was named Creator of the Year.

In 2022, he won the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Male Creator and has been nominated in several other categories at highly-recognized events in recent years.

His YouTube Creator Awards included Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Red Diamond in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021. The Creator Awards are awarded to YouTubers who exceed a certain number of subscribers.

Jake Paul – $45 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEoLezutaJg

American YouTuber and actor Jake Paul rose to fame after building a massive following on Vine.

Due to YouTube, Jake earned an estimated $45 million during his time in the spotlight.

This is due to his multi-million-dollar earnings from boxing, content creation, and endorsements.

Jake was born in Ohio on January 17, 1997, and began training to be a Navy Seal before he started posting Vine videos in September 2013.

On the Disney Channel television show Bizaardvark, he played Dirk Mann.

Jake announced on Twitter on July 22 that he was leaving Bizaardvark because he had “outgrown” Disney Channel.

He became famous on Vine, and after the platform died, he turned to YouTube. As of September 2022, Paul has 20.4 million subscribers.

His videos often include vlogs, and he filmed vlogs every day for most of his career.

He created a song called “It’s Everyday Bro” as a result of this, which is the third most disliked YouTube video ever.

Using social media stars as part of his entertainment group in 2017, Paul founded Team 10.

As part of his mission to prevent bullying in the youth, Paul founded a nonprofit organization in 2021 called ‘Boxing Bullies.’

Markiplier – $38 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64oZLF443g

Markiplier is a famous YouTube star, entertainer, social media personality, and ‘Let’s Play’ star, better known as Mark Edward Fischbach.

The YouTube account ‘markiplierGAME,’ where he posts commentary videos on the action and indie games, has gained him tremendous fame.

In addition to playing horror and indie games like ‘Slender: The Eight Pages,’ ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s,’ ‘Garry’s Mod,’ and ‘Amnesia: The Dark Descent,’ he is also renowned for his commentaries on their soundtracks.

His best-known alter ego or ‘other self’ is Wilford Warfstache, conceived during one of his sketches with Cyndago.

His YouTube channel, Warfstache, is the 22nd most subscribed to on this video-sharing website, with more than 19 million subscribers.

He was ranked 6th in a list of the 20 most influential celebrities among teenagers in the United States in 2015 based on his fan following of over 6.4 million followers on his Instagram account and over 11 million followers on his Twitter account.

Over the past decade, he has built up a loyal fan base that supports his ambitious projects, including one nominated for a Children’s and Family Emmy Award.

A podcast host and filmmaker, Markiplier owns a clothing company with over 100 million views of his most-viewed playthrough video.

Currently, Markiplier has over 32.4 million subscribers on YouTube. His latest project is an interactive film, “In Space with Markiplier,” produced by YouTube originals.

Rhett and Link – $30 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk05OGKe85k

Two YouTubers known as Rhett and Link are Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III (born June 1, 1978). On weekdays, they host Good Mythical Morning, a weekly talk show on their channel at 6:00 am EST.

Mythical Entertainment, the parent company of Smosh, was founded by them.

Their friendship began in first grade when they met in Buies Creek, North Carolina, where they attended high school and roomed together in college.

In 2006, they started their first YouTube channel and now have over 12 million subscribers.

In high school, the two met in a North Carolina cow pasture to swear a blood oath. They sliced their hands with sharp rocks and vowed to do big things in showbiz — even though they had no connections to Hollywood.

“Good Mythical Morning” is a YouTube show with about 18 million subscribers that attracts viewers by employing catchy titles. The show’s opening titles feature fantastical elements, such as dragons, and call themselves “mythical beasts.”

Unspeakable – $28.5 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v5u21kxMAQ

Nathan Johnson Graham, a kid-friendly YouTube star, has more than 14 million subscribers and draws attention by playing games like Minecraft and doing stunts like filling his house with packing peanuts and plastic balls.

As a result of selling his YouTube catalog to Spotter, hawking merch, and securing endorsements, he made $28.5 million in 2021.

He was born in Houston, Texas, on December 5, 1997, and still lives there, producing vlogging and gaming videos on his channel.

UnspeakableGaming is his YouTube channel where he posts Minecraft videos along with other gaming, custom map, roleplay, challenge, and many different types of videos.

Nathan created his first YouTube account under UnspeakableGaming in October 2012 and started uploading Minecraft-based content. The following month, he posted a Minecraft Survival Island series but was unsuccessful.

Nathan’s UnspeakableGaming channel gained a great deal of attention in 2016 and, in September 2016, surpassed the 1 million subscriber mark.

According to SocialBlade, UnspeakableGaming had over 3 million subscribers by the end of 2017 and over 1 billion views by the end of 2018. The channel now has over 11 million subscribers and over 4 billion views.

With his hilarious, witty, and awesome videos, Nathan gradually gained a considerable following and viewership.

The channel’s popularity grew as his fans eagerly awaited his new videos. The track’s success inspired him to start a second YouTube channel, Unspeakable, where he takes on insane challenges, drives crazy cars, pulls pranks on his friends, and more.

It was followed by another Minecraft channel called UnspeakablePlays, which offers Minecraft Pocket Edition-related videos, among many other amazing ones. Nathan is a friendly YouTuber with excellent relationships with many fellow YouTubers.

Nastya – $28 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WDJ_tS4aGg

Known online as Like Nastya, Anastasia Sergeyevna Radzinskaya was born on January 27, 2014, in Moscow, Russia.

She produces original child-oriented stories and roleplays with her parents, Sergey and Anna Radzinskaya.

She has the 5th most views and 7th most subscribers worldwide on her main channel.

As a child, Nastya was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.

Her parents grew concerned about Anastasia’s ability to speak during this time and started posting videos for friends and family to see.

After receiving treatment for her illness, she recovered and could speak properly again.

Anastasia’s parents started a YouTube channel in January 2016 after selling their businesses in 2015 and moved to Florida.

Forbes Magazine listed Anastasia as one of the highest-paid YouTubers of 2020.

She has over 68 billion views on her main channel, with several YouTube channels such as Like Nastya, Like Nastya Vlog, and Like Nastya Show.

Ryan Kaji – $27 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2cznwPY13M

Ryan Kaji is a YouTube child star whose parents Shion and Loann, launched Ryan ToysReview (now Ryan’s World) to entertain children aged 2-6 years old.

The 6-year-old earned $11 million as he filmed himself reviewing toys and posted cute kid’s reviews to YouTube at 6.

Kaji’s channel has transitioned from toy age to DIY science, doodles, and animated costars now that he is almost out of toy age.

Combined with AdSense revenue, merchandise, and toys, he made $27 million in 2021.

The parents of Kaji have signed a deal with PocketWatch, a startup children’s media company founded by Chris Williams and Albie Hecht in 2016.

As part of PocketWatch’s marketing and merchandise partnership with Ryan ToysReview, Ryan ToysReview developed Tag with Ryan, an endless runner game for iOS and Android that targets children.

A 20-episode television series, Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, has been produced by Ryan ToysReview and PocketWatch.

Additionally, Outright Games released a racing game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows entitled Race with Ryan.

Super Spy Ryan, a hybrid live-action and animated series, premiered on Amazon Kids+ on November 27, 2020.

In December 2020, Ryan’s World announced that it would launch an official game on Roblox.

A second Ryan’s World video game, Ryan’s Rescue Squad, was released on March 4, 2022, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, and Stadia by Outright Games.

Dude Perfect – $20 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyHm55m7t-4

It’s not just one guy, but a group of friends who make crazy tricks shots and have fun for a living! Not bad, right? They have one of the top 10 YouTube channels. It all sounds great.

In reality, their real story is much more profound and much more special. It’s a story of goodness. It’s a story of faith, friendship, hard work, being yourself, passion, and generosity.

Coby and Cory Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones, and Tyler Toney are the five best friends that formed Dude Perfect at Texas A&M University.

Their love of sports and faith led them to become friends at college. They enjoyed spending time together so much that they became roommates.

The two friends began betting sandwiches that they could make a trick shot in their backyard one day.

Within one week, they recorded their crazy shots on video. Over 200,000 people viewed the video!

Soon after, they were contacted by Good Morning America for an interview.

Eventually, Dude Perfect began attracting star athletes to shoot videos with them and companies like Nerf to sponsor them.

Their success and fame have kept them from their bigger mission to spread nicely throughout the world.

What they do is centered around the power of faith and friendship.

Logan Paul – $18 million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsGOQP-B0gU

Like his brother Jake, Logan Paul gained much of his popularity through the smartphone app Vine, much like his brother.

Afterward, Logan went on a tour to record his splits in London, Spain, Germany, China, Japan, Brazil, Belize, and France, where he appeared on the cover of Adweek.

When Logan was in Belize, he recorded the first ever Facebook underwater live stream. During his time in Brazil, Logan and his roommate created the notorious Olympic dab video, which had over 60 million views in seven days but was removed due to copyright issues.

As part of his “bring back the dab” campaign, Logan collaborated with Kevin Hart on a video.

DJ Marshmello performed the song in the video.

Dwayne Johnson has also performed short skits with him.

Besides writing, producing, and starring in Airplane Mode, Logan also wrote and directed it.

After Vine closed, he started making YouTube videos. As a result, his channel was the fifth fastest-growing channel on YouTube in 2017, and he entered the top 50 most subscribed channels late that year, making him the youngest.

A YouTuber of all time, he became the 130th most subscribed channel in the world in February 2020.

Logan became controversial for his video in the famed Suicide Forest in Japan, which drew a lot of mixed reactions and eventually caused the demonetization of his channel.

Preston Arsement – $16 million

A YouTuber, TikToker, Instagrammer, gamer, and social media personality, Preston Blaine Assessment is also known as PrestonPlayz.

He is known for owning the channels PrestonPlaz’, ‘PrestonGamez,’ ‘Preston,’ and ‘TBNRfrags.’ His net worth is estimated to be $25 million as of 2022.

A native of Dallas, Texas, he was born and raised in a well-to-do family. He is an American and a Christian.

In addition to streaming games such as Among Us, Minecraft, and Fortnite, he can also be seen playing against some of the biggest celebrities in the field, such as JeromeASF, BajanCanadian, and Noochm.

Preston has several YouTube channels, but PrestonPlayz, his most popular one, says everything you need to know about him: The guy plays video games.

A playable Minecraft version of Squid Game’s challenges has been built in one of his most recent videos, which has more than 12 million subscribers.

With $14 million in estimated earnings, Arsement was ranked sixth among YouTubers by Forbes in 2019. His primary profits come from the Minecraft servers he runs. Among the world’s highest-paid YouTube stars, Preston remains the sixth-highest earner. He made $19 million in income in 2020, which will increase to $20 million by 2022.

Table of Contents

 Developing your content delivery strategies is critical. Reach out to us and we can help you get started.

alt="Vidpros logo2"

Need help with video editing?

Vidpros can help with our vetted on demand team. Want to know more?

Click Here


Facebook


Youtube


Linkedin


Envelope


Link


Phone-square-alt

Visit Vidpros at the NABShow Conference!

April 13th-17th at Las Vegas Convention Center

NAB Show