Top 10 YouTube stars of 2016:
Another year has almost come to an end, and 2016 was a major one
for YouTubers when
it came to earning cold hard cash.
The top 10
highest-paid YouTube stars this year made a collective $70.5million, with the
top earner raking in a cool $15million.
Many on the list went to college and earned degrees in the likes of psychology or engineering, only to forego a traditional job for a life behind the camera.
Many on the list went to college and earned degrees in the likes of psychology or engineering, only to forego a traditional job for a life behind the camera.
Clearly, it's paid
off. Here are the top 10 highest paid YouTube stars of 2016:
1. PewDiePie
Subscribers: 49,756,391
Swedish
gamer Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, now 27, earned the top spot on the YouTube's
highest earner list for the second year in a row thanks to his channel
PewDiePie
Five years ago
Swedish gamer Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, now 27, dropped out of a competitive
industrial engineering program to focus full-time on his YouTube channel
PewDiePie.
2. Roman Atwood
Subscribers: 10,152,692
Roman Atwood took the second spot, making $7million thanks to his famous
pranks
Atwood's channel
might be making $7million less than PewDiePie, but he still remains YouTube's
highest paid prankster.
More than 10 million
people tune in to Atwood's channel to watch him pretend to spray people with
skunks or create an indoor snowstorm in his house.
Atwood is perhaps
most famous two pranks in which he tried to convince his girlfriend into
thinking he had killed their three-year-old son.
One involved using a
dummy dressed in their son's Spider-Man costume and throwing it from the second
floor of their two-story home.
Another involved a
fiery ATV accident, his girlfriend bursting into tears as her real son walked
over to her after an explosion of flames.
The prankster took
his hijinks to the big screen this year, teaming up with YouTubers Vitaly Z and
Dennis Roady for the feature film Natural Born Pranksters.
3. Lily Singh
Subscribers: 10,296,350
Comedian Lily Singh
took the third spot, with her channel boasting 1.3 billion views
What first started as
a method to help deal with depression has made Lily Singh a multi-millionaire.
The Canadian's
Superwoman channel has received more than 1.3billion views since it was
launched in 2010, thanks in part to Singh's impersonations of her
parents.
Singh gave up her
previous plan of getting a Masters in Psychology and becoming a counselor as
her views - and mood - continued to rise.
Her face is now
plastered in billboards across Manhattan and Singh has even appeared on Jimmy
Fallon's Tonight Show.
Singh's videos - with
some including 'What Clubbing Is Like', 'Why Bras Are Horrible' and 'Types of
People You'll See On Halloween' - now garner guest stars that include Victoria
Justice, Gina Rodriguez and even Michelle Obama.
She has also appeared
in YouTube videos with James Franco and Seth Rogen and her YouTube Red documentary
premiered in Los Angeles' iconic Chinese Theater.
4. SMOSH
Subscribers: 22,474,510
Ian Andrew Hecox and
Daniel Anthony Padilla, both 29, make up the American sketch comedy duo better
known by the name of SMOSH
Ian Andrew Hecox and
Daniel Anthony Padilla, both 29, make up the American sketch comedy duo better
known by the name of SMOSH.
The childhood friends
and Sacramento natives are the veterans of the group, joining YouTube just
months after it premiered in 2005.
There are various
series within the Smosh channel, from parody sketches like 'Masterchef
Millennials' to 'The Big What If', 'Every Blank Ever' and even one dedicated to
Pokemon-related videos.
Hecox and Padilla
have also developed their first scripted long-form series called Part Timers,
posting a new episode every week on their channel.
The show was inspired
by Hecox's job at Chuck E. Cheese, where he worked before quitting to dedicate
his time to the channel.
Hecox and Padilla
became the first YouTubers to have their own wax figures at Madame Tussauds and
their second film, featuring rapper T-pain, will debut on YouTube Red later
this month.
Their first
feature-length film, Smosh: The Movie, is currently streaming on Netflix.
5. Tyler Oakley
Subscribers: 8,087,829
Tyler Oakley tied for
the fifth spot this year, his first time on Forbes list, thanks in part to
signing a deal with Ellen DeGeneres to create his own digital talk show
Tyler Oakley tied for
the fifth spot this year, his first time on Forbes list, thanks in part to
signing a deal with Ellen DeGeneres to create his own digital talk show.
Oakley's videos range
from guessing celebrity abs with Tom Daley, trying strange toys with Kellie
Pickler, to interviewing Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.
The 27-year-old, who
uploaded his first video in 2007 as a freshman at Michigan State University,
also uses his platform to be a prominent advocate for LGBT youth.
Oakley has raised
more than a million dollars for The Trevor Project and often posts about issues
affecting the LGBT community.
He has been included
in OUT Magazine’s Power 50 and The Hollywood Reporter's Top 25 Digital
Stars.
The humorist most
recently released his first book of essays, Binge, which became a bestseller
Binge.
Oakley did a live
show tour in 2014, doing skits in his pajamas, and he finished third in the
most recent season of The Amazing Race.
5. Rosanna Pansino
Subscribers: 7,398,450
Rosanna Pansino is
the host of the popular YouTube cooking show Nerdy Nummies, which she calls the
original Geeky Cooking Show
Also taking the fifth spot on Forbes' list is Rosanna Pansino, the host of the popular YouTube cooking show Nerdy Nummies, which she calls the original Geeky Cooking Show.
Pansino's skills in
the kitchen have brought more than $7million people to her channel, which
focuses on recipes inspired by fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, anime, movies,
video games and television shows.
Through her videos viewers
can learn how to decorate gingerbread houses, and bake unique creations like a
Sleeping Beauty Birthday cake or Game of Thrones Direwolf Bread.
The 31-year-old is
now raking in the kind of money she first only dreamed of when she began to
pursue an acting career years ago.
Pansino appeared in
the likes of Parks and Recreation and CSI, even scoring a finalist spot in
VH1's Scream Queens, which offered a role in an upcoming Saw film.
Although she
initially started making YouTube videos to get more comfortable in front of the
camera, Pansino's hobby soon turned full-time.
She has since
uploaded more than 100 recipes and recently released a cookbook which made the
New York Times' Bestseller List.
7. Markiplier
Subscribers: 15,523,276
Mark Fischbach's
channel Markiplier, much like PewDiePie, is beloved for the running
commentary he gives fans in his 'Let's Play' video game clips
Tied for the seventh
spot is gamer Mark Fischbach, better known to his fans by his online pseudonym
Markiplier.
Markiplier, much like
PewDiePie, is beloved for the running commentary he gives fans in his 'Let's
Play' video game clips.
Fischbach, 27, was studying
to become a biomedical engineer when he decided to dedicate his attention
full-time to his increasingly popular YouTube site.
And it seems the
gamer life has opened some doors for him.
Fischbach, a Honolulu
native who now lives in Los Angeles, has recently announced plans to try his
hand at music and acting, even signing with top talent agency WME.
But if that doesn't
work out, he'll clearly still be making plenty of cash with his day job.
7. German Garmendia
Subscribers: 30,317,411
Chilean comedian
German Garmendia's channel is the most subscribed channel in Spanish
Although he may only
make the seventh spot on YouTube's highest earners, Garmendia's channel is the
most subscribed channel in the Spanish language.
The comedian has more
than 30 million fans subscribed to his channel, where he also posts videos of
his band Ancud.
The Chilean native
has also released a book - titled #Chupaelperro - and remains so popular
a change in his hair color inspires countless articles.
He is also the
youngest YouTuber to make the list, making millions at the age of only
26.
9. Colleen Ballinger
Subscribers: 7,359,094
Colleen Ballinger,
better known as 'Miranda Sings', tied for the ninth spot on Forbes list
Colleen Ballinger has
made millions off her persona Miranda Sings, a tone-deaf singer who believes
she is destined for fame.
Miranda has taken
30-year-old Ballinger far, with appearances on Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in
Cars Getting Coffee and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show.
Ballinger has since
just debuted a Netflix series, titled Haters Back Off, that's based on
Miranda's backstory.
The former
Off-Broadway actress has also guest co-hosted The View and released the
bestseller book Self-Help.
10. Rhett and Link
Subscribers: 11,545,537
Rhett James
McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln 'Link' Neal III have also earned the ninth spot
thanks to their channel Good Mythical Morning
Rhett James
McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln 'Link' Neal III are better known as the
comedic duo Rhett and Link.
The co-hosts of Good
Mythical Morning have been making people laugh together since they met in first
grade at an elementary school in Buies Creek, North Carolina.
McLaughlin, 39, and
Link, 38, have built a fanbase of their wide-ranging channels that feature
episodes like 'blind taco taste test' and 'ridiculous leftover food
hacks'.
They also do plenty
of challenges, like eating a scorpion or the world's hottest pepper.
Both men studied
engineering at North Carolina State University, graduating and working in big
companies before finally deciding to pursue comedy full-time.
They now both live in
Los Angeles and run the production company Mythical Entertainment.
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