NEW YORK: A nine-year-old boy from Texas has topped the annual list of highest-paid YouTubers compiled by Forbes magazine for the third year running, with earnings of nearly US$30 million this year.
Ryan Kaji, who is described as a ‘child influencer’, reviews toys and games on his YouTube channel Ryan’s World, which has 41.7 million subscribers and 12.2 billion views.
He made $29.5 million from his YouTube channel, as well as a further estimated $200 million from Ryan’s World branded toys and clothing, including Marks & Spencer pajamas.
The child influencer has also signed an undisclosed, but likely multimillion-dollar, deal for his own TV series on Nickelodeon. Kaji 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?”
Kaji’s most popular video, Huge Eggs Surprise Toys Challenge, has more than two billion views, making it one of the 60 most-viewed videos ever on YouTube. Ryan’s family now runs nine YouTube channels.
As an influencer, many companies reached out to Ryan so he could unbox, introduce and play with the latest toy in the market, for other children to see. However, owing to his fast-paced popularity, the influencer has become his own brand, being put into Walmart, Target and Amazon as its own force.
In total the top 10 biggest-earning YouTube stars took home a total of $211 million, according to the Forbes business magazine. In second place was Jimmy Donaldson, better known as Mr Beast, who earned an estimated $24m and was a 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. Following in third, fourth and fifth place are Dude Perfect, $23m, Rhett and Link, $20m, and Markiplier, earning a sum of $19.5 million respectively.
