The World’s Highest Earning YouTube Stars
It’s no secret the growth of YouTube has been phenomenal over the last few years. Since the starting of YouTube.com the network has grown to over a billion users worldwide. The popularity of the site has provided value countless hours of wasted time to billions of people — and even made some individuals, brands and bloggers very rich in the process.
YouTube is a great way to start sharing content with a world wide audience that is already just sitting and waiting to see what you create. This is especially true for anyone focusing on videos that tutorials, laughter, product showcases and much more. Also check out my how to rank youtube video on Google guide, to learn how to quickly get your videos in front of a lot more people outside of just YouTube.
Today we’ll be looking at the profit side of YouTube.com and how some people have used their creativity to make enormous money. These people have been able to tap into various different niches, and capitalize on their popularity.
Let’s get started.
10. Ray William Johnson – Estimated $1-$2 Million per year
He started back in 2008 and was YouTube’s first ever comedian. He tapped into the market in his mid-twenties, and generated a bulk of his fortune through his series “=3” which provides commentary on viral videos. His current subscriber count is 12 million, and has close to 12 billion views combined.
Unfortunately, he has been doing it for so long that he stopped for a short period of time. However, due to popular demand he did bring it back with a new host, but the subscriber and view count is slowly declining forcing him to grab the 10th spot on our list. The success was due to Ray William being part of the show from the beginning. He is finding creative ways to bring the popularity back into the show. Let’s wait and see what happens.
Most Popular Video – Don’t Call Me Fat
Current Views: 24.5 million
In this video Ray makes fun of overweight people doing various different dumb stuff. For example, in one video this drunk girl whose overweight starts jumping on a glass table…LOL. In another, this overweight guy tries to fit into XXS size pants then goes out in public.
9. Toby Games – Estimated $1-$2 Million per year
He is more famously known as Tobuscus, and currently resides in California. Bulk of his fortune comes from his various YouTube channels involving games, blogging talk and funny skits. Toby has around 15 million subscribers across all his channels with 3.2 billion views. His popularity recently landing him on a TV show called – The Annoying Orange.
His channel continues to grow as he starts incorporating more comedic variety.
Most Popular Video – I Can Swing My Sword
Current Views: 62.2 million
A 1:20 minute video based on Minecraft. The song is produced, sang and directly by Toby. It’s a full length song, but let’s NOT forget Minecraft is very popular because of the “LEGO” elements within the game.
8. Jenna Marbles – Estimated $2 Million per year
Jenna has been on YouTube since 2010, and has roughly 14.7 million subscribers. Her channel currently has 1.7 views across all videos which is bringing her some serious profit every single year. She is 28 years old, from New York City, and is very successful through YouTube holding the title of the women with highest subscribers on a channel. She has been showcased on New York Times and ABC News.
Most Popular Video – How To Trick People Into Thinking You’re Good Looking
Current Views: 62.7 million
A 2:37 minute video which I thought was hilarious. It’s strictly for women, and goes through steps you can take to trick people into thinking your good looking. She starts with a shower then eyes, makeup, hair, and scores serious points because of her sense of humour during the whole process. It’s a video you definitely have to see because it’ll knock you off your seat.
7. Adam Dahlberg (Sky Does Minecraft) – Estimated $2-$3 Million per year
Adam is currently averaging 55 million views per month, and that equals a total of 2.5 billion views in total. Adam has really established himself on social media with close to a million followers. He got really big on YouTube with a team called “Crafted”, but went on to create his own channel called “Mind Craft.
Most Popular Video – New World
Current Views: 62.1 million
The video does a parody of Coldplay’s Paradise however it is completely Mind Craft style. The video takes people through different worlds, and you’ll run into the typical Mind Craft characters.
6. CollegeHumor – Estimated $2.5-$3.5 Million per year
This channel got enormous from their segment known as Jake & Amir. The segment is about two guys who annoy the heck out of each other, but is VERY funny. The channel has over 3.3 billion views, and close to 9.9 million subscribers. They have been on YouTube.com for 8 years, but recently posted their final episode. Recently, they have been on TV pranking each other
Most Popular Video – The Six Girls You’ll Date in College
Current Views: 60.8 million
This is a very funny video about girls in college, and how each one will have their vices. For example, it goes through a dumb girl, athletic, party, church, etc. The production is awesome because it looks like a real TV Mini Series. The thing which stands out about this production is how each one looks so innocent, but change over the course of your college life. I’m pretty sure many students could relate to the video which is why it attracts so many views.
5. Smosh – Estimated $3-$5.5 Million per year
Smosh has dedicated their channel creating parody of popular shows like Pokemon, etc. They have since stopped many of them because giant companies complained about the popularity. However, they were able to drive millions of more people by creating special effects, and are currently in talks to get their comedy content on TV. They currently have 87 million views per month which equals a total of 4.4 billion. The subscriber count is currently 20 million.
Most Popular Video – Beef n Go
Current Views: 101.8 million
This movie is censored, but very popular with the YouTube audience. What is this video about? It’s a silly video about people who love to eat meet, but are always on the go. They introduce a tube like product called “Beef n Go”, and altered celebrity photos showing them promote the product. The video is actually funny because it’s silly, but hilarious at the same time.
4. Epic Meal Time – Estimated $6 Million per year
The creators are NO longer making money off YouTube.com because they have been given their own show on the FYI network called: Epic Meal Empire. They are the very first people to bring YouTube to TV, and have had celebrity guests like Tony Hawk + Arnold Schwarzenegger. They currently have 167 episodes with 781 million views. Their subscriber count is insane with 6.6 million subscribers.
Most Popular Video – Fast Food Lasagna
Current Views: 26 million
Here’s a quick breakdown of their video.
They go to all the popular fast food restaurants: McDonalds, Wendy’s, and A&W. They order 15 burgers from each place, and have lasagna sauce ready at home. Within a cooking case everything is layered to create a lasagna. The total calories of the meal is over 20,000 which is an insane number. Basically the video shows you how to create lasagna from fast food – burgers.
3. DC Toys Collector – Estimated $5 Million per year
The channel gets roughly 380 million views per month which is an enormous number compared to others. The channel consist of an unknown Brazilian women who purchases, and assembles Disney toys. She has never shown her face, but is still a very popular channel. Mothers and kids love the channel, and it currently has 5.2 billion views. This just reiterates the fact that you should always follow your passion.
Most Popular Video – Play Doh Sparkle Princess Ariel
Current Views: 365 million (WOW)
The video is 9:11 minutes and is about different Disney toys that have entered the market. This one is about Princess Ariel and the commentary is awesome. She essentially goes through the whole item from start to finish showing you the cool things you can do with Play Doh. She opens up each play doh and dresses each princess with a new dress made strictly from the play doh. The video has cool music playing in the background which adds a cool touch to each video.
2. Pewdiepie- Estimated $8-$12 Million per year
This guy is just 25 years old, and does hilarious commentary which has allowed him to go viral. His real name is Felix and is from Sweden, and receives 392 million views per month. Collectively he has 8 billion views on his channel with 34 million subscribers. It’s reported no other channel has more views then him which is why he is making a massive fortunate each month.
His popularity has made him a celebrity, and his other accounts have massive followers too. For example, his Twitter account currently has 5.39 million followers.
Most Popular Video – A Funny Montage
Current Views: 69 million
This video is a bunch of smaller skits in different scenarios. In a few of them he’s playing video games, and in others he’s singing to music videos. The reason these videos are so funny is because he is making funny of almost every aspect, and even impersonates characters throughout. This video is roughly 10:52 minutes which is longer compared to the others discussed in this post.
If you are looking to have a laugh while viewing different sequences then this montage is perfect for you.
1. ShyCarl – Estimated 900 Million
He sold his business for 500 million dollars, and was the pioneer of “vlog videos”. What is “Vlog”? Its video blogging, and YouTube.com allowed people to launch their careers instantaneously. He since then has launched his own company, a network called “Maker Studio”. The cool thing is this company was bought by Walt Disney for 500 million, and is guaranteed another 450 Million if performs the way it’s supposed to.
He still has a YouTube.com channel which does NOT take bulk of his time, however it has 1 million subscribers.
His total net-worth is you factor in all the buyouts, etc is roughly $950 million. He has recently started his own clothing line called Trixin.
Most Popular Video – Dad Busts Kids Making Mess
Current Views: 1 million
This video is roughly 4:23 minutes with 88,000 “Likes”. The video is a Windex Touch-up Cleaner Commercial.
The video starts with his pregnant wife who is completely overwhelmed with work so Shy offers to make dinner. He enlists the help of his kids, and all of them are working as a team. Shy leaves the kids alone to make the table while he goes to help with the laundry, and this is where hell breaks loose. First, his kids start playing with the ketchup and mustard spraying on the counter. These two sprays turn into animated actions characters that the kids love.
This happens “2” times throughout the video and I started asking myself what’s the point. Then after, I noticed how the video is for Windex Touch-up Cleaner.
The World’s Highest-Paid YouTube Stars 2015
I hope you enjoyed our roundup of top 10 YouTubers and learned that you can make a cool living doing what you love. These people all started with a simple passion then made a huge difference in everyone’s life. They provide entertainment through laughter, silliness, uniqueness, and more.
To see a complete summary of everything mentioned above, you can watch the YouTube video below.
It’s never too late to start doing what you love so setup an account right now – It’s absolutely FREE.
For anyone that doesn’t want to start making videos and put your face out there, check out this guide on how to start a blog and how you can achieve similar fame and financial success in the process!
