A 9-year-old is the highest-paid YouTube star of 2020, earning $29.5 Million
As Ryan Kaji continues to break records with his YouTube channel, Ryan’s World, it’s time for your annual reminder that kids these days, are earning way more than we could have ever imagined ten years ago.
The 9-year-old star has been named the highest-paid YouTuber of 2020 by Forbes for the third year in a row, beating out other well-known YouTube personalities like Jimmy Donaldson (Mr. Beast) David Dobrik, Jeffree Star and 6-year-old Anastasia Radzinskaya.
According to reports, Kaji made $29.5 million USD and garnered a total of 12.2 billion views with 41.7 million users. But while he’s known for his toy unboxing videos and DIY science experiments, he made a majority of his earnings from licensing deals selling merchandise.
The Guardian reported that in addition to the $25.5 million made through his Ryan’s World YouTube channel, Kaji earned “a further estimated $200m from Ryan’s World branded toys and clothing.
If that isn’t enough, he also signed an undisclosed, but likely multimillion-dollar, deal for his own TV series on Nickelodeon.”
Here is a list of the top ten highest-paid YouTube stars of 2020
#10 | Jeffree Star | Earnings: $15 million
Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr., known professionally as Jeffree Star, is an American entrepreneur, make up artist, YouTuber, singer, and the founder and owner of Jeffree Star Cosmetics
#9 | David Dobrik | Earnings: $15.5 million
David Julian Dobrik is a Slovak YouTube personality. He found early success on the video sharing platform Vine, before starting his vlog on his YouTube channel in 2015.
#8 | Blippi (Stevin John) | Earnings: $17 million
Stevin John, better known by his alias Blippi, is an American children’s entertainer and educator on YouTube.
#7 | Nastya (Anastasia Radzinskaya) | Earnings: $18.5 million
Anastasia Radzinskaya, also known as Nastya, Like Nastya, and Stacy, is a Russian-American YouTuber. She and her parents run several YouTube channels for children, including Like Nastya, Like Nastya Vlog and Like Nastya Show
#6 | Preston Arsement | Earnings: $19 million
Preston Arsement, commonly known as “Preston” online, grew his digital YouTube brand into a fulltime business, hiring 24 people to help him. When he started his channel, previously named “PrestonPlayz,” Arsement filmed gaming videos. Now, he creates kid-focused, vlog-style content like challenge videos and pranks.
#5 | Markiplier (Mark Fischbach) | Earnings: $19.5 million
Mark Edward Fischbach, known online as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber, gamer-commentator, actor, and comedian.
#4 | Rhett and Link | Earnings: $20 million
Self-styled as “Internetainers”, they are known for creating and hosting the YouTube series Good Mythical Morning.
#3 | Dude Perfect | Earnings: $23 million
Dude Perfect is an American sports and comedy group headquartered in Frisco, Texas, United States.
#2 | Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson) | Earnings: $24 million
Jimmy Donaldson, more commonly known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber notable for his expensive stunts and philanthropy
#1 | Ryan Kaji | Earnings: $29.5 million
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You can check out the full Forbes Highest Paid Stars of YouTube listing here.
