Mark Edward Fischbach (Markiplier) and Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) are just a few of today’s wealthiest social media personalities with earnings of $38 million and $82 million respectively.
The landscape of careers has changed dramatically since the rise of the internet. Social media has provided everyone with a platform to not only share their ideas and creations with the world, but also earn from these activities and become stars in their own right. The most enterprising and creative people have turned their online personalities and content into influential business empires, earning up to eight-digit figures doing what they love.
READ ALSO: High Fashion: 8 Of The Wealthiest Designers In The World
For the curious, here are today’s highest-earning social media stars and the viral content they make for their audiences, based on data from Forbes’ “Top Creators 2023,” Yahoo! Finance, and interviews with the personalities:
Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast): $82 million
Jimmy Donaldson, who most netizens know as MrBeast, is an American content creator with a channel and several subchannels on Youtube dedicated to recording oftentimes extraordinary scenarios. From gaming to reaction videos to mini “survival” documentaries, Donaldson has amassed a following of 256 million subscribers on his main channel alone.
According to Forbes, the creator has earnings of around $82 million, which adds up considering he has an entire channel for his philanthropic works (which he showcases through equally captivating videos). These include building an entire school and giving away $30 million worth of free food.
According to a 2024 Business Insider article by Paige Leskin, Lakshmi Varanasi, and Samantha Delouya, Donaldson has the most number of subscribers in YouTube’s entire history—a feat to add to his already long list of accomplishments. Yet like anyone in the business, the creator started small, posting his first few videos as “”MrBeast6000” in 2012 as a 13-year-old.
Mark Edward Fischbach (Markiplier): $38 million
“Markiplier” is another pseudonym that’s perhaps more famous than the real name of its personality, Mark Edward Fischbach. Like Donaldson, the creator has built an entire online empire and fanbase through his gaming streams, comedy sketches, and outlandish “meme” videos on YouTube.
His name is practically synonymous with internet fame, and he’s been a hit with netizens since the mid 2000s, more than a decade ago. His viral playthrough videos, namely those where he played the cult classic horror game “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” were big successes that garnered millions of views. Today, his Youtube channel has 36.6 million subscribers and will likely continue to grow as he releases new content.
Recently, the content creator announced that he will be developing and starring in Iron Lung, a movie based on the 2022 horror game by David Szymanski. The film is getting a whole theatrical release, which just shows how far he has come.
In an interview with fellow internet star Logan Paul, Fischbach revealed that he earns an “ungodly” amount of money at $38 million, yet doesn’t forget that his main goal is to “make content and inspire others to make content.”
Rhett & Link: $35 million
Best friends Rhett James McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III rose to fame through their hilarious shows on YouTube in 2006 under the channel “Rhett & Link.” Some of their videos include having an exorcist to play Dungeons & Dragons and getting a makeover to look like Jason Momoa.
Since then, the duo have gained 5.21 million subscribers, and started their own company Mythical. The group creates a variety of popular series ranging from cooking shows (Mythical Kitchen) to variety shows (Good Mythical Morning). According to Forbes, they earn an average of $35 million through their work, and invest in emerging creators through their Creator Accelerator fund.
Charli D’Amelio: $23 million
Moving onto the wealthy “It Girls” of the internet, there’s Charli D’Amelio, a content creator who became a worldwide TikTok star in 2019 at the age of 15. Her dance videos gained millions of fans, as the star was formerly a competitive dancer who appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Today, D’Amelio has 154 million followers on TikTok, and has built an entire business empire with her family since her rise to fame, “D’Amelio Brands.”
On average, D’Amelio has earned $17.5 million according to Forbes’ data. She continues to collaborate with a variety of high-profile brands as well, including Prada, and started her own perfume Born Dreamer. Like the Kardashians, her family also has their own reality TV series called “The D’Amelio Show” on the streaming platform Hulu.
Emma Chamberlain: $20 million
Next is Emma Chamberlain, another internet It Girl who gained a massive following through her down-to-earth, relatable brand of humor that many find charming. One gets the general idea with her videos “fashion week, the naked truth” and “stories from my childhood.” She captured the hearts of online audiences through her candid series of “coming-of-age” blogs, which resonated with many people, especially girls of her generation, as Jonah Engel Bromwich records in his article for The New York Times.
The star has 12 million subscribers on YouTube, all waiting for her casual yet entertaining vlogs on everything under the sun,from books to fashion to romps around New York. Her internet stardom has not only made her into a celebrity of sorts (with her recent attendance in the MET Gala), but also a blossoming entrepreneur who earns an average of $20 million a year, according to Forbes.
She also started a successful coffee business “Chamberlain Coffee,” which sells coffee beans, cold brew formulas, matcha, and coffee-making accessories, among other products. Beyond that, the brand has a YouTube channel where the star teaches her audiences to make tasty drinks through special recipes and how-to videos (which include guest stars like Kendall Jenner).
Banner photo via Instagram @emmachamberlain.
