US boy, 9, is again top-paid YouTuber
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Child influencer Ryan Kaji, seen here with his father Shion Kaji, topped Forbes' annual list of highest-paid YouTubers for the third year running. The nine-year-old reviews toys and games on his channel, Ryan's World.
PHOTO: RYAN'S WORLD/YOUTUBE
NEW YORK • A nine-year-old boy from Texas in the United States has topped the annual list of highest-paid YouTubers compiled by Forbes magazine for the third year running, with earnings of almost US$30 million (S$39.8 million) this year.
Child influencer Ryan Kaji reviews toys and games on his YouTube channel, Ryan's World, which has 41.7 million subscribers and 12.2 billion views.
His most popular video, Huge Eggs Surprise Toys Challenge, has more than two billion views, making it one of the 60 most-viewed videos on YouTube, according to The Guardian news site.
In addition to the US$29.5 million he earned from his "unboxing" videos, where he removes toys from their packages and reviews them, Ryan's line of branded merchandise sold at Target, Amazon and Walmart raked in US$200 million in sales last year.
He has also signed a deal with children's channel Nickelodeon for a series called Ryan's Mystery Playdate, reported Forbes.
The business magazine noted that the top ten earners in its list secured an estimated US$211 million in total earnings from June last year to June this year, a 30 per cent jump from the previous year.
The coronavirus pandemic, it said, has boosted business for YouTube, which has been a major draw for people staying home.
The second-highest earner and newcomer to the list is 22-year-old digital celebrity Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, who earned an estimated US$24 million.
He is famous for his wild and expensive stunts, including blowing up a Toyota and detonating the world's most-expensive firework - a 180kg, US$160,000 device. The 11-minute firework episode has nearly 60 million views.
Another child star, Anastasia Radzinskaya, known as Nastya, came in seventh on the list.
The six-year-old Russian girl and her father play with Lego, do household chores and explain viruses on her channel, which has more than 190 million subscribers and 39 billion views. She earned US$18.5 million for the year.
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TOP FIVE
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1. RYAN KAJI
Earnings: $39.8 million
2. MRBEAST (JIMMY DONALDSON)
Earnings: $31.9 million
3. DUDE PERFECT
Earnings: $30.5 million
4. RHETT & LINK
Earnings: $26.6 million
5. MARKIPLIER (MARK FISCHBACH)
Earnings: $25.9 million
Others in the top 10 include comedian David Dobrik (No. 9), make-up guru Jeffree Star (No. 10) and Mark Fischbach or Markiplier (No. 5), who breaks down video games.
While it may be a good time to be YouTube star, the pandemic casts a shadow even on them.
"I just can't wait until we can go back outside," Forbes quoted Ryan as saying.