The publication estimates that the Influencer industry is now valued at $250 billion, and by 2027 this figure will grow to $500 billion.
This year’s list members earned nearly $720 million. That’s $20 million more than they earned in 2023. Also, since last year, Forbes’ top creators have grown by more than 100 million subscribers: they now have more than 2.7 billion on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Here’s what we noticed when we examined the list:
– It’s mostly composed of YouTubers and TikTokers, and the majority of them are comedians who gained their initial popularity through short sketches.
– 20% of creators have their own podcast, with many of them launched just this year.
– The list includes two young female athletes – basketball player Flau’jae Johnson ($7M) and artistic gymnast Livvy Dunne ($3.9M) – who made their fortunes almost immediately after the U.S. lifted its ban on college athletes monetizing their personal brand.
– 20 of the top 50 creators have an engagement rate of less than 1%. So, when you already have millions of subscribers accumulated over several years, estimating the average ER loses all meaning.
And here’s what Forbes’ top ten list of the most successful creators of 2024 looks like. You can read the full list via this link.
Earnings: $85M, Total Followers: 503M, Avg. Engagement: 2.38%, Entrepreneurship Score: 4
Mr Beast has more than 500 million followers across social media, making him the most followed creator in the world. Mr Beast (whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson) boasts more than 320 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel and has attracted nearly 9 billion views over the last year. It’s all thanks to wild videos featuring extreme stunts (surviving in a cave for a week) and contests (spending 100 days in a bunker to win $500,000). Donaldson’s massive popularity has launched successful consumer product lines ranging from clothing to his Feastable candy bars. It’s attracted controversy, too. In September, contestants of his upcoming Amazon show, Beast Games, sued Donaldson’s production company for unsafe conditions on set. He has not commented on the suit.
Earnings: $45M, Total Followers: 120M, Avg. Engagement: 0.33%, Entrepreneurship Score: 4
Bullying, racism, inequality—these are all subjects for the videos that Dhar Mann and his team of more than 150 produce for his 23 million subscriber YouTube channel. Says Mann: “The goal from the beginning was to help people going through a tough time in their life. Tough times I went through.” Mann writes scripts for the videos, which he films with actors in his 100,000 sqft LA studio. Viewers come flocking for his modern take on the after-school special. Over the last year, he earned an estimated $45 million via Google Adsense and brand partnerships, including WhatsApp, Universal, and game developer SocialPoint. Mann also runs a creator agency (5th Quarter Agency) and a beauty brand (LiveGlam).
Earnings: $50M, Total Followers: 30.4M, Avg. Engagement: 3%, Entrepreneurship Score: 3
Comedian Matt Rife has used his digital popularity to pack physical theaters. The stand-up comic, who went viral on TikTok in 2022 with his quick-witted crowd work, earned tens of millions this year from selling out the roughly 30 live shows he performs each month. Meanwhile, on Netflix, he now stars in two comedy specials. The first, Natural Selection, drew criticism for a joke about domestic violence. That was short-lived. His second show, Lucid, debuted in August and was among Netflix’s most-watched specials of the year. In December, Rife is set to publish a memoir titled Your Mom’s Gonna Love Me.
Earnings: $23.50M, Total Followers: 213.5M, Avg. Engagement: 0.27%, Entrepreneurship
Charli D’Amelio was named the highest-earning TikToker in 2021—when she was 18—by showing the world her dancing skills. A few years and a thousand imitators later, D’Amelio remains among the most followed people on TikTok. She can also be found anchoring ad campaigns for Garnier and launching her shoe line D’Amelio Footwear (started with sister Dixie, who’s #6 on this list). Next, Charli is hitting Broadway, debuting in a three-month stint as Charmian in the musical & Juliet.
Earnings: $20M, Total Followers: 113.7M, Avg. Engagement: 3.09%, Entrepreneurship Score: 3
Identical twin brothers Alex and Alan Stokes lead one of YouTube’s fastest-growing channels. Their videos of pranks, challenges, and vlogs (like I Built a Secret McDonald’s In My Room! and Extreme Camouflage Hide And Seek) regularly attract more than 40M views. The pair now have more than 100M followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Over the last 12 months, the pair’s videos have attracted more than 4 billion views.
Earnings: $14.60M, Total Followers: 87M, Avg. Engagement: 1.88%, Entrepreneurship Score: 4
Dixie D’Amelio might not post as often as she did a few years ago (when Forbes named her TikTok’s second-highest earner), but she’s more relevant than ever. Leveraging her sister Charli’s (#4 on this list) initial social media fame, Dixie has branched into high fashion. Partnerships include Chopard, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, and Valentino. And, with Charli, she’s growing the family shoewear line D’Amelio Footwear. She’s jumped into pop music, too—her single Be Happy has more than 100 million Spotify plays.
Earnings: $25M, Total Followers: 61.9M, Avg. Engagement: 2.09%, Entrepreneurship Score: 3
The former NASA engineer turned super-creator nearly doubled his YouTube subscriber base in 2024, from 30 million subs to over 57 million. Fans tune in for his science-focused content and the dramatic ways he teaches it, like dropping an egg from space or testing whether acid or lava is more destructive. Rober’s company, CrunchLabs, further monetizes that educational angle by selling STEM-themed subscription boxes to children and, as of April, a second product line targeted at teens and adults. He’s partnered with the FIRST organization and the Google.org foundation to make science more accessible in underserved communities.
Earnings: $22M, Total Followers: 5.7M, Avg. Engagement: 6.5%, Entrepreneurship Score: 4
Alexandra Cooper has turned her sex and relationships podcast Call Her Daddy into a multi-pronged media giant. In fall 2024, she inked a $125 million deal to bring her network of creator-hosted shows to SiriusXM. Podcasts include Alix Earle’s (#30) Hot Mess, Madeline Argy’s Pretty Lonesome, Harry Jowsey’s Boyfriend Material), and Owen Thiele’s In Your Dreams. The new distribution deal officially kicks off in January 2025, replacing her $60 million, three-year agreement with Spotify. Cooper has also signed a brand partnership with Kim Kardashian’s Skims and Jimmy Choo. This summer, she jumped to mainstream media as an NBC host at the Paris Olympic games.
Earnings: $36M, Total Followers: 14.3M, Avg. Engagement: 0.25%, Entrepreneurship Score: 4
The founders of the Mythical YouTube brand have turned their comedy channel into a multi-media empire. On weekdays, the pair’s digital variety show, Good Mythical Morning, streams to its 19 million subscribers, while Mythical Kitchen delivers whacky food content to its 3.9 million fans. Rhett and Link, friends since elementary school, have taken their YouTube fame into other arenas. Their Mythical merch store sells branded gear ranging from hoodies to haircare. The pair also produce a podcast—and their Hulu FAST channel. Offline, their in-person show, Good Mythical Tour, sold out nine dates and more than 24,000 tickets. On the funding side, the duo annually invests $5 million in upcoming creators via their accelerator, Mythical Ventures.
Earnings: $20M, Total Followers: 255M: Avg. Engagement: 0.25%, Entrepreneurship Score: 3
This year, Lame, the Charlie Chaplin of digital media, held onto his title as the most followed person on TikTok with 163 million followers. His short videos reacting to memes and viral trends have garnered 2.5 billion likes. Lame, from Turin, Italy, is turning memes into millions. He has lucrative brand deals with Hugo Boss, Fortnight, and Sony Pictures. He’s also inked a deal with retail giant Walmart, selling his line of quirky cooking tools like a Khaby-branded garlic press and a taco holder. As Lame told Forbes in 2023: “I want to work clean. I’ve never worked with an alcohol company, cigarettes, or anything bad for you because a lot of kids follow me.”
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