[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] The highest-earning YouTuber this year is a 9-year-old boy, who earned approximately $29.5 million (about 32.43 billion KRW) in one year.
The young YouTuber Ryan Kaji (real name: Ryan Kwon), who runs the YouTube channel "Ryan's World," gained huge popularity with videos of unboxing toys and testing various functions while playing.
The British daily The Guardian reported on the 18th (local time) that Ryan has held the title of highest-earning YouTuber for three consecutive years since 2018.
Ryan earned an additional $200 million from toys and clothing bearing his name, and The Guardian also reported that he signed a multi-million dollar TV series contract with the children's TV channel Nickelodeon.
Ryan started YouTube in March 2015 when he was 4 years old. Watching YouTube channels, Ryan asked his mother, "Why do other kids appear on YouTube but I don't?" and that led to him becoming a YouTuber.
In five and a half years, Ryan's YouTube channel surpassed 41.7 million subscribers and 12.2 billion views. A video of him taking Disney toys out of a giant Easter egg-shaped box has been viewed over 2 billion times and is considered one of the top 60 most popular videos on YouTube.
However, Ryan and his family are currently facing an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission following complaints from consumer watchdog groups that they did not properly disclose advertisements in their videos. According to the consumer watchdog group Truth in Advertising, about 9% of Ryan's toy review videos contain promotional product recommendations aimed at preschool children, who are too young to distinguish between advertisements and genuine reviews.
Meanwhile, the second highest YouTuber income this year was taken by Jimmy Donaldson (22), known as "Mr Beast," with earnings of $24 million. The third place went to "Dude Perfect," who earned $23 million this year by showcasing outrageous sports stunts.
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