YouTube's top earner for 2018 is only 8 years old.
Ryan of Ryan ToysReview was named to the top spot on Forbes annual list, with the child earning $22 million for videos that feature him unboxing and playing with toys. Ryan boasts over 17 million followers, with most videos getting over a million views.
Since the channel was started in March 2015 by Ryan's parents, over 26 billion have seen his videos.
It is the first time Ryan has topped the list. In doing so, he usurped last year's top earner, actor and vlogger Jake Paul, who $21.5 million from June 2017 to June 2018.
Ryan and Paul are joined by beauty blogger Jeffree Star at No. 5 and the five-man team of Dude Perfect, ranked at No. 3, who rose to fame with their extravagant trick shot videos. Paul's older brother, Logan Paul, rounded out the top 10 list despite being kicked off YouTube's Google Preferred program in January 2018 for filming and, subsequently, uploading what appeared to be a suicide victim hanging from a tree in Japan.
The remaining five spots all belong to gamers who have amassed followings by posting videos of themselves playing various video games: a trend that shows no sign of slowing down.
"Ten to 15 years ago, gaming wasn't cool. You didn't game because it was cool, you gamed because you loved it. Now you have Drake going on Twitch and playing Fortnite, and [professional] athletes in the locker room saying they can't stop playing Xbox — it's what these kids are living and breathing," David Huntzinger, a digital-talent agent at WME, told Forbes.
Among the gamers rounding out the top ten list is British gamer Daniel Middleton. Middleton ranks at No. 4 on the list, earning $18.5 million. Ireland's Seán McLoughlin, who posts videos under the username Jacksepticeye, earned $16 million to rank at No. 8 while Hawaiian born Mark Fischbach, known as Markiplier on Youtube, earned $17.5 million and took the No. 6 spot.
While the YouTubers do earn significant portions of their money from advertising before videos and sponsored posts, all ten individuals have one thing in common: they each supplement their vlogging income with merchandising deals.
Ryan, however, is an exception. While the toy enthusast now has a line of toys and clothing branded Ryan's World in Walmart stores, the earnings from the deal were not factored into the 2018 earnings total. That means that Ryan's earnings are expected to dramatically increase in 2019.
Additionally, Forbes says that all but $1 million of Ryan's earnings comes from pre-vlog advertising. Sponsored posts aren't as lucrative for Ryan's channel, given that most of the viewers are also children. Ryan's parents also have been reluctant to agree to many deals, Forbes says.
Approximately 15% of Ryan's money is placed into a Coogan account that he will be able to access once he is a legal adult. The rest of the money, Forbes says, goes towards production costs and purchasing the toys that Ryan unboxes and reviews for the channel.
While Ryan is too young to be concerned with life after YouTube, the remaining stars on the list are all in their 20s and 30s.
"I'm not going to be able to make videos on YouTube forever. I need to plan for the future," Fischbach said,
That plan includes starting an athleisure line called Cloak with McLoughlin. When the pair offered a presale on items in the collection, the stock sold out within 48 hours.
Others have followed suit, creating their own merchandising or production deals in order to keep the cash flowing when it comes time to stop uploading.
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