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Top 10 Richest YouTubers: Can you make money from YouTube?

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  • Post last modified:July 7, 2020

Can you make money from YouTube or it’s just another overhyped statement! It’s not only you but every new and frustrated YouTuber is looking for a genuine answer for the same question, in fact, I personally received tons of same queries.

But let me say, have you ever virtually met world’s richest baby Rayan Kaji? He actually made $77 million right from YouTube at the age of just 9 years! Isn’t this a great inspiration for you?

I assume, the next questions that you may strike…

  • Who are the top 10 richest Youtubers?
  • How much do they earn from YouTube?

And, the third query which may arise … Can I make money from YouTube as they do?

I made every answer ready for you in this article.

So, let’s start step-by-step, initiating from the real facts.


Can You Make Money from Youtube? – The Real Facts


Firstly, I’d say the competition on Youtube is extreme because 500-600 hours of videos are getting uploaded every minute on YouTube. So, it’s not something like low hanging fruits, rather you have to face the competition right way.

There are mainly 2 ways to make money directly from YouTube:

  1. CPM (cost per thousand views)
  2. CPC (cost per click)

And, to grab these opportunities you have to join the YouTube Partner Program first where you can access,

But, joining the YouTube Partner Program is not easy either, especially if you are a beginner; to be eligible for this program, you have to fulfill two conditions first.

  1. Get 4,000+ public view hours in the last 12 months.
  2. Achieve 1,000+ subscribers.

You aren’t gonna achieve any of the above goals so easily in your early days on YouTube. Rather it’s a matter of consistency and dedication in the right direction.

Even a tougher story starts in the next phase.

Getting 4000+ views and 1000+ subscribers is just an eligibility criterion; Once you apply for the YouTube Partner Program, they will scan your YouTube channel and I suppose you’ll pass the test a become partner. But, that’s not all that you can start making money. Just check out the terms and conditions below.


YouTube Channel Monetization Policies


You can make money from CPM, only if the viewers watch the entire Ads video without tapping the skip button. Let me say what most people do if there is a skip option on the scene. As per the average watch habit statistics, most people will skip the Ads as early as possible to uncover the main video.

In case of CPC Ads, you will get paid based on the number of clicks on the advertisements that appear on your video.

On average, popular YouTubers can make around $1-5 per 1000 views.

But you can’t take all of that money to your home. Google will take a 45% share of your Ads earnings; it’s definitely a big enough amount.

Dear, don’t be deprived because still thousands of YouTubers are making a lot of money from YouTube using several strategies.

Let me show you the earning details of top 10 YouTubers, you’ll definitely get some real inspirations.


Top 10 YouTube Channels based on Subscriptions


The list of top 10 YouTube channels is as follows.

  1. T-series (India) – Category: Music, 144M Subscribers – 14496 Videos
  2. PewDiePie (USA) – Category: Entertainment, 105M Subscribers –  4187 Videos
  3. Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (USA) – Category: Education, 86.7M Subscribers -540 Videos
  4. SET India (India) – Category: Entertainment, 75.6M Subscribers, 37978 Videos
  5. 5-Minute Crafts (USA – TheSoul Publishing) – Category: How to & Style, 67.2M Subscribers, 4335 Videos
  6. WWE (USA) – Category: How to & Style, 62.4M Subscribers, 48359 Videos
  7. Zee Music Company (India) – Category: Music, 56.9M Subscribers, 4825 Videos
  8. Kids Diana Show (USA) – Category: Entertainment, 56.7M Subscribers, 723 Videos
  9. Justin Bieber (Canada) – Category: Music, 55.0M Subscribers, 172 Videos
  10. Dude Perfect (USA) – Category: Music, 52.1M Subscribers, 235 Videos

However, the above list contains several commercial channels that are operated by multiple employees/ hired YouTubers.

You are looking to start your own YouTube channel, maybe with the aim to become a rocking YouTuber, or to promote your personal business; and, I guess you’ll be operating that by yourself only, or maybe with a few partners in your group.

So, a fair comparison would be to highlight the top 10 YouTubers who are operating their channels by themselves, but not owned by a commercial company.


Top 10 Richest YouTubers based on Total Earnings


All the YouTube channels in the following list are operated by one-man/ group-of-people; and, the following list is created based on total earnings of the channels from YouTube Adsense.

You may be wondering by the earning statistics of the following YouTubers.

But I’d suggest you investigate beyond that; you should deeply investigate their niche, and their monetizing strategies, and of course follow their consistency, which may help you to figure out your own goals.

Total 11 channels introduced below; due to equal earnings, we kept 2 channels jointly in the 10th position.


10. Ed Sheeran ($7M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers - 10th Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is launched in 2011 by Edward Christopher Sheeran who is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is a citizen of West Yorkshire, UK, and born on 17 February 1991.

He earned $7M from only 161 videos on his YouTube channel while achieved 44.9M subscriptions.

  • Category: Entertainment, Music, People & Blogs
  • Channel Launched On: October 2011
  • Subscribers: 44.9M
  • Total Posts: 161
  • Average Video Views: 20,366,375,637
  • Engagement rate: 1.17%
  • Total Earnings: $7M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $26K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $10.8 M


10. Justin Bieber ($7M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers #10 - Justin Bieber

Based on earnings Justine Bieber lies jointly at 10th position with Ed Sheeran, although the channel was started earlier in 2007, and thus managed more subscribers (55.1M).

The owner of this channel is Justin Drew Bieber, who born on March 1, 1994, in Ontario, Canada.

  • Category: Entertainment, Music
  • Channel Launched On: February 2007
  • Subscribers: 55.1M
  • Total Posts: 162
  • Average Video Views: 1,013,511,020
  • Engagement rate: 2.68%
  • Yearly Income: $7M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $43K


9. Marshmello ($22M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #9 - Marshmello

Similar to the above two, Marshmello is another music channel created by American singer Christopher Comstock.

At the age of only 28 (DOB: May 19, 1992), he earned $22M from YouTube only, while achieved 46.5 million subscribers within just 5 years.

  • Category: Music, Gaming, Entertainment
  • Channel Launched On: May 2015
  • Subscribers: 46.5M
  • Total Posts: 444
  • Average Video Views: 9,221,806,718
  • Engagement rate: 4.57%
  • Total earnings: $22M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $49K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $11.3M


8. Dude Perfect  ($26M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #8 - Dude Perfect

Dude Perfect is a bit different from the above ones; it’s not a one-man channel but was created by a group of friends, Tyler Toney, Coby Cotton, Cory Cotton, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, Sean Townsend. This is also the only sports-based channel among all top 10 richest YouTube channels listed here.

  • Category: Sports, Entertainment
  • Channel Launched On: April 2009
  • Subscribers: 52.2M
  • Total Posts: 235
  • Average Video Views: 11,055,761,442
  • Engagement rate: 3.14%
  • Total Earnings: $26M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $1.1 M
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $13.5M


7.  Vlad and Niki ($48M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #7 - Vlad and Niki

The official owners of this channel are two brothers, Vladislav Vashketov (born on 26 February 2013) and Nikita Vashketov, (born on 4 June 2015), although their parents have an immense influence on this channel, and this is pretty usual.

Can you imagine, two brothers become multi-millionaires at the age of 7 and 5! And, this all happened because of YouTube only!

  • Category: Entertainment, Kids
  • Channel Launched On: 2018
  • Subscribers: 44.2M
  • Total Posts: 257
  • Average Video Views: 23,667,925,776
  • Engagement rate: 1.79M
  • Total Earnings: $48M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $1.8M
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $106.9M


6. Canal KondZilla ($49.1M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #6 - Canal KondZilla

Konrad Dantas (13 September 1988), a Brazilian singer launched Canal KondZilla in 2012. The channel got extreme popularity with time while earned almost $50M in these years.

  • Category: Music
  • Channel Launched On: April 2012
  • Subscribers: 58.6M
  • Total Posts: 1,459
  • Average Video Views: 30,738,532,842
  • Engagement rate: 4.96%
  • Total Earnings: $49.1M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $43K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $22.1M


5. Little Baby Bum – Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs ($53M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #5 - Little Baby Bum - Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs

This one is only a top-listed animation channel that is not owned by the commercial film industry. London-based graphics designer Derek Holder and his wife Cannis Holder launched this channel rhyme-based nursery education channel in 2011. The channel is available in several other languages also.

  • Category: Education, Kids
  • Channel Launched On: June 2011
  • Subscribers: 31M
  • Total Posts: 1,237
  • Average Video Views: 27,175,131,970
  • Engagement rate: 0.78%
  • Total Earnings: $53M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $43K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $46.1M


4.  PewDiePie  ($59M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #4 - PewDiePie

In 2010 Swedish citizen Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (24 October 1989) launched the PewDiePie gaming channel which initially didn’t achieve much popularity, but with time as the young generation got involved in computer gaming, this channel achieved a huge hyke.

Eventually, Felix made $59M of earning from PewDiePie channel which is really a great example of success with hard work and consistency.

  • Category: Entertainment, Gaming
  • Channel Launched On: May 2010
  • Subscribers: 105M
  • Total Posts: 4,188
  • Video Views: 26,031,291,798
  • Engagement rate: 9.1%
  • Total Earnings: $59M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $14K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $16.1M


3.  Kids Diana Show ($64M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #3 - Kids Diana Show

Little girl Diana (March 31, 2014) from Ukraine is the owner and actor of this channel. Her parents launched Kids Diana Show when she just crossed 1 year of age and until today she earned $64M. Just imagine 6 years old is earning $65M from a YouTube channel!

  • Category: Entertainment, Pets & Animals, Music
  • Channel Launched On: June 2015
  • Subscribers: 57M
  • Total Posts: 724
  • Average Video Views: 31,403,684,426
  • Engagement rate: 0.63%
  • Total Earnings: $64M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $88K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $117 M


2. Like Nastya ($75M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: #2 - Like Nastya

Anastasia Radzinskaya (January 27, 2014), anther 6 years old little girl became a second richest YouTuber earning $75M from her Little Nastya YouTube channel. The little lady kept many of her heavyweight competitors far behind while grabbed 57M subscribers within just 3 years!

I must say it’s really the greatest achievement of little Anastasia’s life. Hope she’ll grow up to achieve more success while being kind always.

  • Category: Entertainment, Music
  • Channel Launched On: January 2017
  • Subscribers: 57.1M
  • Total Posts: 445
  • Average Video Views: 37,346,366,496
  • Engagement rate: 0.7%
  • Total Earnings: $75M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $1.6M
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $107.2M


1. Ryan’s World ($77M)

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: Ryan's World

Ranked #1 – Ryan’s World!

Nothing to say much about this channel because Ryan’s World is already a very famous one and you probably well aware of this channel.

In 2015 Ryan’s World was launched by the parents of Ryan Kaji which become the richest YouTube channel with time which probably they never think of. the prime actor of this channel is, of course, Ryan himself, but his mother (Loann Kaji), father (Shion Kaji), and twin sisters (Emma and Kate), all are his direct co-helpers and actors.

Although the above-mentioned kids YouTube channels achieved more subscriptions and quick success, Ryan and his parent are the initiators of these types of kids channel.

  • Category: Entertainment, Kids
  • Channel Launched On: April 2015
  • Subscribers: 25.6M
  • Total Posts: 1,752
  • Video Views: 40,006,873,843
  • Engagement rate: 0.51%
  • Total Earnings: $77M
  • Average Earning potential per Video: $43K
  • Maximum yearly earning potential: $32.9M

Top 10 Richest YouTubers: Observations


So far you have been wondering by earning statistics of the top 10 richest YouTubers. Now it’s time to summarize the facts so that you can figure out the ways to make money from your own YouTube channel.

Just take a look at the following points which may help you out.

  • Kids’ channels are rocking!
  • 5 out of the top 10 richest YouTube channels are Kid’s related while the top 3 are owned by millionaire kids.
  • Music channels are holding the second position, 4 out of the top 10 richest YouTubers are owners of music channels.
  • Music channels are becoming popular with a lesser number of posts.
  • One gaming channel and one sports-related channel managed their places in the top 10.
  • 9 out of the top 10 richest YouTubers are operating entertainment channels, while 1 is dedicated to nursery kids education.

So if you can step into any of the about niche, there are high chances to achieve success at a faster rate. However, it doesn’t mean other niches can’t offer you YouTube money, but other niches may take a longer time and may also need a harder effort to achieve success.

For complete guidance on how can you make money from youtube, VISIT HERE.


Conclusive Remarks


It proves, once you’ll become a YouTube legend, you’ll become a millionaire. Yes, definitely it’s difficult to rock on YouTube, but it’s not impossible because you can see the above YouTube giants are common people like you and me. If they can rock, you can also do it. You need the follow the right direction only.

I personally suggest you not to focus only on Adsense because getting success with Adsense is much tougher than you think actually.

Before wrap up let me say something important regarding this.

YouTube earnings are not only about AdSense but there are several other ways to make money using the YouTube platform.

Other than Adsense, the best ways to earn using YouTube are blogging and Affiliate marketing. Indeed, YouTube-Blogging-Affiliate marketing, these 3 are deeply related to one another in the world of internet marketing business. If you are a good video creator, I suggest you combine these 3 fields to build up a thriving online business. Indeed, it’s a far better way to become a successful entrepreneur simply by turning your passion into profit.

I strongly suggest you use YouTube for promoting your own business; don’t just depend on YouTube Adsense.

If you don’t have proper knowledge about Affiliate marketing or blogging, join THIS PLATFORM for free and learn the hidden tricks.

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If you have any further queries don’t hesitate, just post your question in the comment box below, I’ll be more than happy to help you out.

This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. Charne

    My word what an interesting read. Who would have thought that the top earners from youtube are kids! I have a little one that is only 1 years old, but maybe I should reconsider her future in the entertainment business. The earning potential is insane! Little millionaires, making more money than Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber on Youtube. Well done to them!

    1. Dr. SD

      Yup, they did something really amazing. You may start a Channel with your little one, I think there is a great scope.

  2. Norman Richards

    Youtube is making waves for its reach with people, this is a social site and much more that can help you to reach millions with your product no matter what it is. Youtube is one of the best platforms that you can invest in to get a good return on your time and your money. Youtube is worth the investment.

    1. Dr. SD

      Sure, the top 10 YouTubers proved it; however, there are many more success stories with YouTube. The only thing, you have to do some hard work and show a bit of consistency there.

  3. Michael

    Great article sir, as you provided a lot of valuable information a marketer can use to be successful on youtube. Top 10 YouTubers are really rocking, especially the children!!

    All the best,
    Michael

    1. Dr. SD

      Definitely a marketer may be successful with YouTube videos, just need some consistency and choosing the right tracks.

  4. Habib

    Wow! There a so tiny people who have become millionaires through YouTube! This shows if you have the talent and are willing to be consistent, you too can make it big on YouTube!
    We’ve opened a YouTube channel not long ago and hoping that I will hit big mark soon, as we (me and my partner) are consistent and willing to do all the hard work it take to get there.

    Thank you for motivating us all.

    1. Dr. SD

      Definitely! Anyone can make money from YouTube. I don’t think it needs to have extra talent but it’s all about choosing the right niche, hard work, and consistency. Special talent is, of course, an influencing factor. If people start loving your YouTube channel making money is just a matter of time.

  5. Teresa

    Of all the singer/songwriters out there, I would not have thought Ed Sheeran would be at the top of this list. Don’t get me wrong, I love him. But there are so many other musicians I would have thought would be in that spot. I can definitely see Bieber being in that spot though. For sure!

    This was seriously eye-opening. I think it’s really like anything, if you were born to be a Disney star, it’s going to happen for you. Same thing with being a Youtube star. If it’s in your cards you won’t be able to stop it.

    Also, what is up with all of these kids being in the top like that!! I mean, technically, it’s not them, it’s their parents who put them there. How wonderful for them to be able to see that potential and go for it. Really great! What a fun enlightening read, thank you.

    1. Dr. SD

      I’m sorry that your favorite singers are not there in the list. But let me say why. Not all the singers love to appear on YouTube to share their songs for free. Instead, they prefer to commercialize their tune by contracting studios/ music companies/ TV channel. Once they sign a contract they can’t share their songs on any media, only the company/channel owners can do. You can see T-Series is at the top position with the highest subscribers and viewers, this is a music company where a great number of singers signed contracts.

      I didn’t include any commercial company here in the top 10 YouTubers’ list, rather this article is more focused on the single owners.

      Kids are rocking because other kids are watching their funny videos all time. And definitely, technically the parents are mainly responsible for such success of their kids.

  6. Satz

    After seeing the salaries of the top-ten YouTubers, I may be considering a career change. Creating a YouTube channel can be a great side hustle, especially if you produce engaging content that attracts a large audience. However, getting to this point can be tough work, I strongly believe that internet is not the place for instant money but a place to build long term sustainable income.

    1. Dr. SD

      Yes, you are right; the internet is not a place for quick money. You have to work hard and consistently to achieve success.

      Suppose, if you launch a brand new e-commerce site, even if you run tons of Ads, still, you may not experience sells initially; it needs time to achieve the trust of your targeted customer base. Youtube video is also something similar, but SEO factors are more important here. You have to create useful Youtube videos and post those at a regular interval to gain the trust of Google, and it is obvious.

      You may consider a creer change, but before leaving your present job start posting on YouTube and make it confirm the your channel is getting engaged.

    1. Dr. SD

      Thank you for your appreciation!

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