The worldwide popular video sharing website Youtube aired their first video back in 2005 featuring its co-founder Jawed Karim standing in front of elephants at a zoo, it has evolved into the multibillion dollar business we know today.
Some of the most popular Youtube users earn figures bigger than our favorite Hollywood movie stars. How does this happen? They earn through their channels, through pre-roll advertisements on clips to sponsored content or simply being paid to feature products in their videos.
So who are the highest earning Youtube stars?
1. PewDiePie takes top spot with $12m a year. This 25-year-old YouTube phenomenon, real name Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, is the site’s highest-earning user and has 39.8 million subscribers. He posts videos where he commentates as he plays video games. His most popular video entitled A Funny Montage has been viewed almost 70m times.
2. Second place goes to the duo called Smosh. Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla’s Smosh channel shows comedy sells as they’re one of five in the top 10 who make people laugh for a living. The earn $8.5m and have 21.3m subscribers.
3. Comedians the Fine Brothers take the third place and it is estimated that they earn $8.5m and have 13.3m subscribers. They reached fame with a series of comedy clips including their massively popular React videos where they film people’s response to watching anything from movie trailers to Gangnam Style.
4. American music artist Lindsey Stirling takes the fourth place with $6m earning and 7m subscribers. Her violin covers of hip-hop tracks catapulted her to online fame and she even appeared on America’s Got Talent.
5. The fifth place goes to another comedian duo Rhett & Link earn $4.5m and have 3.7m subscribers. This comedy duo, who call themselves Internetainers, have racked up quite a tidy sum as a result of their funny music videos, sketches and making slapstick commercials for local businesses.