Data was provided by Nielsen, IMDB, and other sources.
When someone decides to drop out of college and pursue an unconventional career, it is natural that the person faces resistance from his family and friends. When Felix Kjellberg walked out of his college for the last time, he was confident that he will achieve way beyond an industrial economics and technology management degree.
Despite the disapproval of his parent, Kjellberg made up his mind, YouTube is what is going to earn him name and reputation. In 2010, Kjellberg started a YouTube channel called PewDiePie, which later became his internet identity. The young nerd, who did odd jobs to fund his channel is currently the most subscribed YouTube user with 49 million subscribers as of December 2016.
Forbes on its December 20 issue published the names of 10 most successful vloggers on YouTube and Kjellberg stood first in the list with a total earning of $15 million.
When Roman Atwood uploaded, a video titled ‘Epic Cooler Prank’ on YouTube, little did he knew that the three-minute prank video that had Johnny Knoxville approaching people with a large empty water cooler. The prank which is simple and unsophisticated became an instant hit and thus started the voyage of YouTube’s second most successful vlogger who currently has over 10,151,737 subscribers earning him $8 million.
According to Forbes, the list is based on the data provided by Nielsen, IMDB, and other sources as well as based on interviews with agents, managers, lawyers, industry insiders and the stars themselves.
According to the report, all YouTube loggers adopt similar tactics to monetize their videos. Most of them prefer to integrate pre-roll advertisements and also integrate sponsors into their content.
The list also feature four newcomers, the video game commentator Mark Fischbach, or Markiplier with $5.5 million; German Garmendia with $5.5 million, becoming Latin America’s biggest YouTuber and the youngest on the list at 26; comedian Colleen Ballinger, or Miranda Sings with $5 million; and Tyler Oakley, who creates diary-like videos and has become known for his LGBT activism.
Full list top 10 and their respective earnings below.
- Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) – $15 million
2. Roman Atwood – $8 million
3. Lilly Singh (Superwoman) – $7.5 million
4. Anthony Padilla (Smosh) – $7 million
5. (tie) Tyler Oakley – $6 million
5. (tie) Rosanna Pansino – $6 million
6. (tie) Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) – $5.5 million
6. (tie) German Garmendia – $5.5 million
7. (tie) Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings) – $5 million
7. (tie) Rhett & Link – $5 million