A nine-year-old boy has made nearly $30m in one year from unboxing and reviewing toys and games on YouTube to hold the title of highest-paid YouTuber for the third year running.
According to Forbes, Ryan Kaji made $29.5m (N11.2b) from his YouTube channel Ryan’s World of over 27 million subscribers, as well as a further estimated $200m (N76b) from Ryan’s World branded toys and clothing, including Marks & Spencer pyjamas.
He also signed an undisclosed, but likely multimillion dollar, deal for his own TV series on Nickelodeon.
Kaji, who is described as a “child influencer”, first began making YouTube videos in March 2015 after watching other toy review channels and asking his mother, “How come I’m not on YouTube when all the other kids are?”
His family – who changed their real surname, Guan, to his on-screen surname, Kaji – now run nine YouTube channels.
Ryan’s World is the most popular with 27.6m subscribers and 12.2bn views. Kaji’s most popular video, Huge Eggs Surprise Toys Challenge, has more than 2bn views, making it one of the 60 most-viewed videos ever on YouTube.
In total the top 10 biggest-earning YouTube stars took home a total of $211m (N80.1b) according to the Forbes business magazine, which on Friday published its analysis of their estimated earnings between June 2019 and June 2020.
In second place was Jimmy Donaldson, better known as Mr Beast, who earned an estimated $24m (N9.1b) and was the new entry to the YouTube rich-list.
Donaldson, 22, is known for stunts, including freezing himself in ice and giving away huge sums of money to strangers who compete in his challenges. He also makes money from selling merchandise and partnerships with brands such as Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
See full list below.
1. Ryan Kaji: $29.5 million
2. Mr. Beast: $24 million
3. Dude Perfect: $23 million
4. Rhett and Link: $20 million
5. Markiplier: $19.5 million
6. Preston Arsement: $19 million
7. Nastya: $18.5 million
8. Blippi: $17 million
9. David Dobrik: $15.5 million
10. Jeffree Star: $15 million.
