YouTube highest earners 2018: From PewDiePie to Jake Paul and Dan TDM, these are the highest paid vloggers

It’s nearly Christmas and many of us are already feeling the strain on our wallets. Meanwhile, a seven-year-old has just become YouTube’s highest earner, raking in an estimated £17.2 million ($22 million), according to a list released by Forbes.

Just like any other primary school kid, Ryan loves playing with toys. But unlike other children his age, he also boasts his own toy and clothing collection.

Once the reserve of bored teenagers filming squeaky guitar covers in their bedroom, being a YouTuber can now be extremely lucrative. When done right, sharing videos on the site can land you big bucks from merchandise, advertising and even just making appearances.

So who else topped the list? Here’s everything you need to know about the YouTube generation of millionaires:

10. Logan Paul - £11.4M ($14.5M)

Despite having a rocky year, Logan Paul still holds his place on the list.

The 23-year-old built a career from the now-defunct Vine app before moving over to YouTube, where his funny prank videos took off.

Scandal hit in January 2018 when he was forced to apologise for filming a dead body in Japan’s so-called suicide forest.

Despite being booted off YouTube’s Google Preferred program, which gives favourable ad rates to popular channels, his fans remained loyal and his career quickly recovered.

9. PewDiePie - £12.2M ($15.5M)

Swedish YouTuber Felix Kjellberg made famous his persona PewDiePie on the platform by making “Let’s Play” videos, where he records himself playing a game and shares footage of the gameplay and his reaction to what’s happening.

The 27-year-old has had his fair share of controversy too. In 2017, Kjellberg was dropped by Disney for posting videos which contained anti-Semitic imagery.

He is currently locked in another internet storm with Indian YouTube channel T-Series over who has the most subscribers.

PewDiePie is currently sitting pretty on top, racking up more than 73 million subscribers, making him the biggest creator on the site.

8. Jackscepticeye - £12.5M ($16M)

Irish gamer Seán McLoughlin is loved by kids and criticised by parents for his foul-mouthed video game content.

“I do get a lot of complaints from parents who say I swear too much,” he said. “I’m not kid-friendly, which I never said I was from the beginning.”

McLoughlin has 20 million subscribers to his channel and last year featured on Ireland’s Rich List.

He has worked with Disney and is currently developing exclusive content with live-streaming platform Twitch.

7. VanossGaming - £13.3M ($17M)

Another gamer enters the list at number seven.

Evan Fong, better known by his moniker VanossGaming, entertains fans with comedic gaming commentary and now has over 23.7 million subscribers and 10 billion views.

The Canadian is also embarking on a hip-hop career, although time will tell whether it will prove a successful endeavour.

6. Markiplier - £13.7M ($17.5M)

Video game commenter Mark Fischbach started his channel back in 2012 and now has 22.4 million YouTube subscribers.

On the side, he’s co-founded a clothing brand with fellow YouTuber Seán McLoughlin.

5. Jeffree Star - £14.1M ($18M)

The makeup artist has been in the YouTube game for a while and it certainly shows.

His makeup tutorials are as well-known as his tendency to get involved in drama, famously calling out Kylie Jenner on Twitter for not practising “quality control” when it came to her lip gloss wands.

His makeup brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics is worth an estimated $100 million.

4. Dan TDM - £14.5M ($18.5M)

Brit gamer Dan Middleton left his supermarket job to pursue YouTube, and it clearly paid off.

He films himself playing video games such as the hugely popular Minecraft and even embarked on a sold-out tour.

He now has 20.7 million subscribers.

3. Dude Perfect - £16.5M ($21M)

Dude Perfect is a five-man strong comedy group, consisting of twins Coby and Cory Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones and Tyler Toney.

They post videos of trick shots and stunts as well as “battles” where individual members compete against each other in a host of challenges.

2. Jake Paul - £16.9M ($21.5M)

The youngest Paul brother has earned himself a small fortune since following his brother into the world of YouTube.

He keeps fans in stitches over his rap songs and pranks, attracting more than 3.5 billion views.

Not unlike his brother, Jake has been involved in a string of controversies, including accusations of racism and bullying and an incident involving him setting fire to furniture outside his LA home, which led to him being sacked by Disney.

1. Ryan ToysReview - £17.2M ($22M)

Ryan tops the list with a whopping fortune of £17.2 million ($22 million).

The energetic seven-year-old reviews toys and films his reaction opening new toys. The toys featured in his videos often sell out in minutes.

Ryan ToysReview started in 2015 and was relatively under-the-radar until a post from July 2015 went viral.

Ryan ToysReview has 17 million followers and has received a combined 26 billion views, according to Forbes.