This 8-Year-Old YouTuber is Already Richer Than Most Working Adults–Here’s How He Did It
When Youtube was launched in the mid-2000s, it was just a place where regular people uploaded and shared simple videos that would sometimes go viral. More than a decade since this era, the site is now responsible for making multimillionaires out of its top creators.
These high paychecks are made possible by brand partnerships formed by Youtubers with companies, book deals and, of course, video ad revenue. One of the most noteworthy things about this phenomenon is that anyone can become a Youtube star no matter how old or how young. Eight-year-old Ryan Kaji is one of the latter.
Youtube Star
Kaji in a video with his father Shion
Even though he hasn’t even reached middle school yet, the boy, who is the face of the popular channel Ryan ToysReview (now Ryan’s World), is already earning what most grown adults could only dream of. Kaji reportedly took home $11 million and $22 million in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
He outdid himself yet again in the past year when he made a whopping $26 million. All these thanks to his supportive 23 million subscribers, who can’t seem to get enough of Kaji’s videos. At the moment, the boy has an estimated net worth of $30 million.
The channel was actually the creation of Kaji’s parents. After four months, it went viral in 2015 due to a video of the boy opening a giant egg that was filled with toys from the animated children’s movie ‘Cars’. In fact, that seminal post has now reportedly almost has two billion views.
Kaji attending Nickelodeon’s 2019 Kids’ Choice Awards last year
Fast-forward a few years later, the family’s successes continue with Kaji scoring a television show on Nickelodeon focusing on his current line of products, which includes toys, toothbrushes, and even underwear.
According to reports, he currently has about 1,000 products sold at stores like Walmart. He first started selling his own line only in 2018 and is now looking forward to recording retail sales of up to $150 million.
Normal Childhood
Kaji with his mother Loann and twin sisters, Kate and Emma
But despite his fame and immense monetary success, Kaji still enjoys a normal childhood. For example, Texan second-grader goes to a regular public school. Meanwhile, he also devotes around three to four hours a week to film the array of Youtube channels his family keeps. This results in a whopping 30 videos produced in the same amount of time.
And to take some of the spotlights off Kaji, especially as he grows older, his parents have created the production company Sunlight Entertainment. Through this, they’ve created a cast of storylines and characters. For example, his dad made a character called Combo Panda, who reviews and plays games, after noticing Kaji’s interests shifting towards the activity.
Other content topics their channel has started to explore are science experiments and do-it-yourself (DIY) projects.