Ryan of Ryan’s World.Image used with permission by copyright holder
Most eight-year-old kids love playing with toys, but there’s one out there who’s turned it into a business that raked in an eye-watering $26 million in 2019 — $4 million more than last year.
According to data released byForbesthis week, American Ryan Kaji is the highest-paid YouTuber for 2019 thanks to a toy-focused channel launched by Ryan and his parents just four years ago.
New videos appear on Ryan’s channel pretty much daily, with most running for between 5 and 10 minutes.
Asked in an NBC interview last year why he believed Ryan’s World had become so popular, the young YouTube star said: “I’m entertaining and I’m funny.”
Success on YouTube has led to plenty of other income opportunities for Ryan, with a portion of the $26 million coming from branded toys, clothing, and other goods that fans can find on Amazon or at stores like Target and Walmart. He even has a spinoff show on Nickelodeon, as well as a deal with Hulu to show his content.
Other creators in Forbes’ list of high-earning YouTubers include, in second place, Dude Perfect, described as five friends in their 30s playing sports, performing stunts, and breaking Guinness World Records, which generated around $20 million in 2019, and Anastasia Radzinskaya, a five-year-old Russian girl whose dad creates upbeat, colorful, and highly creative videos of his daughter acting in short skits.
YouTuber PewDiePie places at number seven with $13 million in earnings, though in 2020 his income may slip as he recently said he’ll betaking a break from the platformfor an unspecified period of time next year.
