Forbes Magazine has released their list of the top 10 highest-paid YouTube stars in 2016. This year, the top ten made a collective $70.5million, with the top earner raking in $15million. They are:
1. PewDiePie (Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg) – $15million
2. Roman Atwood – $8million
3. Lily Singh – $7.5million
4. SMOSH (Ian Andrew Hecox and Daniel Anthony Padilla) – $7million
5. Tyler Oakley – $6million
6. Nerdy Nummies – $6million
7. Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) – $5.5million
8. German Garmendia – $5.5million
9. Miranda Sings (Colleen Ballinger) – $5million
10. Good Mythical Morning ( Rhett McLaughlin, Charles ‘Link’ Neal III) – $5million
See more details below…
1. PewDiePie — Earned: $15 million — Subscribers: 49,756,391
Swedish gamer Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg,earned the top spot on the YouTube’s highest earner list for the second year in a row thanks to his channel PewDiePie Five years ago, he dropped out of a industrial engineering program to focus full-time on his YouTube channel PewDiePie. His parents were angry that he had given up a degree at Chalmers University of Technology to play video games on YouTube full-time, and cut him off. Felix supported himself early on by working at a hot dog stand, but soon his channel soared to heights no one could have expected. He is the first person to ever reach 10 billion YouTube views, with totals now nearing 14 billion, and was named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people this year.
2. Roman Atwood — Earned: $8million — Subscribers: 10,152,692 subscribers
YouTube’s highest paid prankster, Roman Atwood took the second spot, making $7million thanks to his famous pranks. Atwood also makes money off his personalized merchandise and sponsorship with brands like Scott Toilet Paper.
3. Lily Singh — Earned: $7.5 million — Subscribers: 10,296,350 subscribers
Comedian Lily Singh took the third spot, with her channel boasting 1.3 billion views. What first started as a method to help deal with depression made Lily Singh a multi-millionaire. She has received more than 1.3billion views on her channel.
4. SMOSH — Earned: $7million — Subscribers: 22,474,510
Ian Andrew Hecox and Daniel Anthony Padilla, both 29, make up the American sketch comedy duo better known by the name of SMOSH The childhood friends joined YouTube months after it premiered in 2005.
5. Tyler Oakley — Earned: $6million — Subscribers: 8,087,829
Tyler Oakley tied for the fifth spot this year, his first time on Forbes list, thanks in part to signing a deal with Ellen DeGeneres to create his own digital talk show. Oakley’s videos range from guessing celebrity abs with Tom Daley, trying strange toys with Kellie Pickler, to interviewing Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. He also uses his platform to be a prominent advocate for LGBT youth.
6. Rosanna Pansino — Earned: $6million — Subscribers: 7,398,450
Rosanna Pansino is the host of the popular YouTube cooking show Nerdy Nummies, which she calls the original Geeky Cooking Show. Pansino’s channel ocuses on recipes inspired by fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, anime, movies, video games and television shows. She has uploaded more than 100 recipes and recently released a cookbook which made the New York Times’ Bestseller List.
7. Markiplier — Earned: $5.5million — Subscribers: 15,523,276
Mark Fischbach’s channel Markiplier is beloved for the commentary he gives fans in his ‘Let’s Play’ video game clips. He was studying to become a biomedical engineer when he decided to dedicate his attention full-time to his increasingly popular YouTube site.
8. German Garmendia — Earned: $5.5million — Subscribers: 30,317,411
Chilean comedian German Garmendia’s channel is the most subscribed channel in Spanish language. The comedian has more than 30 million fans subscribed to his channel, where he also posts videos of his band Ancud. He is also the youngest YouTuber to make the list, making millions at the age of only 26.
9. Colleen Ballinger — Earned: $5million — Subscribers: 7,359,094
Colleen Ballinger has made millions off her persona Miranda Sings, a tone-deaf singer who believes she is destined for fame. The former Off-Broadway actress has also guest co-hosted The View and released the bestseller book Self-Help.
10. Rhett and Link — Earned: $5million — Subscribers: 11,545,537
Rhett James McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln ‘Link’ Neal III are better known as the comedic duo Rhett and Link. Both men studied engineering at North Carolina State University, graduating and working in big companies before finally deciding to pursue comedy full-time. They have built a fanbase of their wide-ranging channels that feature episodes like ‘blind taco taste test’ and ‘ridiculous leftover food hacks’. They also challenges, like eating a scorpion.
