YouTube, similar to other social media platforms, has become a minting factory for celebrities and millionaires. What’s that name we gave to them? Influencers? Right – social media influencers.
Kid yourself not, this is as big a career as any out there. Did you see that 2019’s highest-earning YouTubers list? These vloggers are making a killing out of being online, most notably Ryan Kaji, the 8-year-old multimillionaire.
Ryan ToysReview
Thanks to his Ryan ToysReview channel, the young lad made $11 million in 2017. The following year, his earnings doubled, registering at $22 million. And while the amount wasn’t twice as much in 2019, the kid made a cool $26 million last year. Wow!
Ryan’s channel currently has more than 23 million subscribers, and since the boy is ever-growing in popularity, you expect this number to have shot up by the end of the year.
And just as his channel’s name suggests, Ryan’s content features him reviewing toys and playing with them by himself or with the rest of his family. He is just 8 after all, isn’t he? He needs someone to keep an eye on him from time to time.
Taking a trip down memory lane, Ryan’s parents started the channel back in 2015, in March to be specific. Within four months, Ryan ToysReview was already viral, and don’t we all know that it takes just a single video to strike global interest?
For this kid, it was a video of him opening a giant egg filled with toys that any kid would describe as heavenly. Do you know of a child who wouldn’t want to play with stuff from the Cars franchise? No wonder the video is almost hitting 2 billion views!
Making Money Moves
If you didn’t already know, Ryan is from Texas and as you would expect of an 8-year-old, he is in the second grade. All the same, school isn’t keeping him from making big money moves.
Expect him on Nickelodeon soon, following in the footsteps of other YouTubers who’ve taken their stardom to TV. The show will definitely have him as the main man, and frankly, his audience would expect nothing less.
Ryan also has a couple of deals with Target and Walmart, with both stores pushing his toothbrush, toys, and underwear line. He is doing well for himself of this front seeing as thus far, there are over 1,000 Ryan products in 75,000 stores spread across the US.
Though yet to be officially confirmed, the folks at Celebrity Net Worth report that Ryan-branded goods generated revenue worth $150 million by the end of 2019. The previous year, they had brought in $42 million. There’s really no stopping this kid!
Given his extraordinary story, you’d expect Ryan’s life to be extraordinary as well, wouldn’t you? But that’s where you go wrong. The 8-year-old has a pretty normal life, attending public school with his friends.
When it comes to his YouTube content, would you believe that he only spends a maximum of four weeks every week filming stuff? It sure does sound like the perfect dream job – work four hours each week and earn $26 million while at it.
Thus far, Ryan’s net worth is $30 million. If you were to be completely honest, would you admit to being just a little bit envious?