YouTube stars now have their own Forbes list, which the magazine released Wednesday. The first ranking is topped by Felix Kjellberg, more popularly know as PewDiePie on the video sharing platform.
Kjellberg is a 25-year-old Swede who has 40 million subscribers on Youtube. As the number one Youtube star, he takes home $12 million pretax in the past year by publishing expletive-filled video commentary while playing video games, wrote Forbes. Another video gamer, KSI, made the cut, taking home $4.5 million.
The Forbes list is composed of ten publishers running YouTube channels that range from entertainment to do-it-yourself content. Comedic acts Smosh and the Fine Brothers, for instance, got $8.5 million each for their antics. There is also the case of Michelle Phan, who has been creating make-up tutorials for her 8 million-strong subscribers.
"I thought, if [YouTube] is going to be the global television of the future, I need to build my brand here," Phan said in the Forbes report.
In order to compile the list, Forbes collected data from various sources, which include Nielsen and IMDB. In addition, the total earnings include money from ads, sponsored videos and previews, book deals and so forth, noted Engadget.
It is interesting to note that most of the YouTube stars included in the list are under 30 years old, according to The Verge. Being personable and young, therefore, seems to be a requirement in order to make it as a rich Youtuber.
