Eight-year-old Ryan Kaji makes Forbes list as the highest paid YouTuber

19 December 2019 - 08:14
By Cebelihle Bhengu
Ryan Kaji has branched out since the launch of the channel in 2015, when he was three years old.
Image: Ryan's World/YouTube Ryan Kaji has branched out since the launch of the channel in 2015, when he was three years old.

Forbes has released a list of the world's highest paid YouTubers and eight-year-old Ryan Kaji, from the US, is in the number one spot. Ryan started his channel in 2015 at the age of three. On it he unboxes and reviews children's toys, He has more than 22 million subscribers.

The top 10 earners, according to the publication, raked in $162m (about R2.3bn) from June 1 2018 to June 1 this year.

Ryan made $26m (about R372m) from the platform and has uploaded 1, 597 videos. They have been viewed more than 34bn times since the channel's launch, according to analytics website Social Blade.

Kaji has expanded his channel to include science experiments.

Forbes also reported that the child star has his own line of more than 100 toys, a clothing range, a show with Nickelodeon and a deal with Hulu, a subscription video-on-demand service.