YouTube has changed the money game for many.
People with $0 in their bank accounts went to $100,000+ in a matter of months.
Take Ryan Kaji as an example. He’s currently a 12-year-old and he started his toy reviewing journey when he was just 3.5 years old!
The kid is in the top 10 richest YouTubers of all time. He has earned millions from YouTube.
(We’ll be sharing more on how he actually did it, in just a bit)
But, do you see what YouTube can do? It can make you financially free for the REST OF YOUR LIFE — if and only if — you manage to crack the code.
Well, we’ve done several guides on how to build a successful YouTube channel, but we’ll still give you some super solid starters on how to start your own YouTube journey.
That is, of course, after we share some jaw-dropping, inspirational, and moving stories of the top 4 to-be YouTube billionaires.
Let’s goo!
Table of Contents
1. Jimmy Donaldson – Mr Beast
Mr Beast – best known for his high-production and fast-paced videos —- currently owns an empire of $1 billion. His net worth is $500 million or more, but his businesses (read: YouTube channels) are churning much more than that.
He owns five different YouTube channels. These are:
- MrBeast: 206 million subscribers
- MrBeast Gaming: 39.6 million subscribers
- Beast Reacts: 30.4 million subscribers
- MrBeast 2: 33.1 million subscribers
- Beast Philanthropy: 18 million subscribers
If we were to specify a niche of the majority of Mr Beast’s videos, then it’d be ‘entertainment’
The guy produces engaging videos for his audience and keeps them hooked. His channel “Beat Philanthropy” is entirely for charity, meaning all his earnings and profits from that channel go to charity. And just so you know, so far he has:
- Gifted cars like Tesla to random strangers
- Gave away $10,000 and $100,000 multiple times
- Sponsored the needy
- Sponsored HUGE plantation campaigns
- Adopted 100s of dogs
He distributes a major portion of what he earns out of goodwill. Mr Beast is also the only individual to bag $54 million in a single year from YouTube.
If you’re wondering about his monthly income, he earns anywhere between $3 million to $5 million every month, which basically comes from ad revenue and paid sponsorships. With that said, he also reinvests a large portion of his earned amount into future YouTube videos.
For example, recently he produced his own version of the popular Netflix show “Squid Game”. You can watch it here:
So, basically he reinvests in super engaging videos.
Now, where is he from and what is his story really?
Mr Beast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) used to upload gaming videos (such as those of Minecraft and Black Ops) on YouTube. He didn’t have any YouTube success back then – YouTube itself was in a growing stage.
When he was in college though, he dropped out really early — because he wanted to focus on YouTube alone. This was, of course, a disappointment to his mother. She kicked Jimmy out of the family home.
At this point (2016), Jimmy had 30k subscribers. No real income.
Fast forward to 2023, he’s currently the most influential and rich YouTuber. He’s also popular on Instagram, Threads, Twitter, and other popular social media platform.
Most of all, he’s financially free at 25. He’s on his way to becoming a billionaire!
Now, bear in mind, Jimmy recalls back when he used to talk about the potential of YouTube to his college mates, he was often dismissed – and often told “Get a life”. So, if you’ve got a seemingly crazy YouTube channel idea, DO NOT discard it. If you’ve done your homework like Mr Beast, studied YouTube algorithm, and are sure about your target audience, give it a shot. You could be the next millionaire!
2. Jeffree Star
Jeffree Star is an American internet personality, makeup artist, and former singer and songwriter — and precisely, the main lead in YouTube drama.
He’s got into several feuds with several celebrities, you know. He’d call out Kylie Jenner for the subpar quality of her beauty products, got into a conflict Jarrod Blandino, got into the mess of Andre’s ex (Andre is his current partner btw), etc etc.
The point of mentioning this here? His “internet personality” or let’s say all of this fiasco, plays a huge role in keeping him around — pumping up views, subs, likes, comments, and all the attention he needs on his socials + YouTube channel to keep it going.
He started on YouTube back in 2006, sharing makeup tutorials and his personal life updates. Eventually, as the platform gained growth and traction, his channel bloomed too.
He currently has a net worth of $200 million and ranks amongst the highest paid YouTube creators.
It’s worth noting that Jeffree Star has other sources of income as well. He has his own cosmetic brands, he did a song album with Nicki Minaj recently, and there are other ways!
However, his YouTube presence plays a pivotal role in driving revenue in all of his income streams! Without it, he might not be able to do so well.
3. Logan Paul
As of December 2023, Logan Paul’s net worth was about $150 million. He makes over $10 million per month from YouTube alone — so that makes his net worth higher by a point as of January 2024.
Formally defining his profession, Logan Paul is basically a boxer, internet personality, actor, and of course, a YouTuber. It is true that he has multiple streams of income but again — YouTube alone is adding big figures to his bank account.
His journey started back in 2014-2015 when he dropped out of his Industrial Engineering major to pursue his career as a social media entertainer. Back in 2015, he had cracked the social media code and had:
- 150,000 YouTube subscribers
- 361,000 Instagram followers
- 31,000 Facebook page likes
- 105,000 Twitter followers
He was also the 10th most influential personality on Vine (which dominated YouTube back in the time — especially amongst young adults).
Moving forth, Logan suffered some losses in 2018 when he filmed a dead body in an infamous suicide spot on his visit to Japan. He was seen jokingly filming the body and saying stuff like:
- “Yo, are you alive?”
- “Are you fucking with us?”
- His hands are purple!
You can read more about the incident on The Atlantic.
As a result of this insensitive video, he suffered demotion on YouTube and backlash from fans. Petitions were filed to remove his channel altogether.
But later, he resurfaced with an apology and we have seen the star doing better ever since. Logan described his behavior in that video as “coping mechanism”.
Currently, Logan is living in $13 million mansion. This is a massive upgrade from the shared apartment at the start of his career and he has expanded his activities to podcast, gaming, and other aspects of entertainment to keep his audience engaged.
4. Ryan Kaji
So Ryan Kaji is the rich and famous YouTube kid we all envy and admire. His current net worth is $100 million — and he is only 12 years old.
What does he do on his YouTube channel? He started with reviewing his toys and now, of course, there’s lots of types of videos he does.
Let’s go back in time and check out Ryan’s story from the basics.
Ryan Kaji’s channel is currently known as “Ryan’s World” but it was formerly known as “Ryan ToysReview.” The kid was born in 2011 and he began creating videos at the age of three, focusing on unboxing and reviewing toys. His charismatic presence and genuine reactions resonated with a young audience, rapidly propelling his channel’s popularity.
But the breakthrough came in 2015 when a video featuring him unboxing and playing with Disney’s “Cars” toys went viral, garnering millions of views.
Capitalizing on this success, Ryan’s family continued producing child-friendly content, expanding beyond toys to include educational and entertaining videos. They hired a proper team for this purpose. And the channel’s massive success transformed Ryan into one of the highest-earning YouTubers, with diverse merchandise and licensing deals contributing to his widespread influence in the children’s entertainment industry.
You can even find games, TV shows, toys, and other such items based on Ryan!
What got them here?
We’ve shared the top 4 YouTubers who are on their way to becoming billionaires in 2024. From a 12-year-old to a 38-year-old — there are successful YouTube channels of all types.
It is true entertainment channels are currently outranking educational channels. But with the right video marketing funnel and video optimization, educational channels have the potential to do just as big.
YouTube has truly made financial freedom a reality for all. To get your hands on it, all you need is:
- Something of value to offer. Solve a problem. It doesn’t have to be a unique problem or a unique solution. Just a problem you can solve effectively. In the case of entertainment channels, ‘boredom’ is the problem. Another example of a problem could be ‘not knowing how to cook with a specific ingredient’ or ‘styling in a limited wardrobe’.
- A smartphone and a vision for your brand (i.e., how you wish to be perceived).
- A YouTube assistant who can help make all your content go live professionally, timely, and in accordance with your business and branding goals.
- Most importantly, ‘resilience’. You cannot crack YouTube overnight. But if you’re consistent for at least a couple of years and actually working on the quality of your outputs, you’ll ace it for sure.
If you’re new to it all and curious about monetization methods, consider browsing our guide on How to Make Money on YouTube.
And if you need help with video editing, we’re always here to help you!
