This 7-year-old YouTube toy reviewer earned $22 million in 1 year

Ryan of Ryan ToysReview opens a Lego box.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Ryan ToysReview)

This year's highest-paid YouTube star is just 7 years old, making millions off of videos showing him opening boxes and playing with toys.

Ryan of the Ryan ToysReview channel stopped year's Forbes list, released Monday. After looking at data and talking with industry experts, Forbes estimates that from June 1, 2017, to June 1, 2018, Ryan earned $22 million. His parents launched Ryan ToysReview in March 2015, and he now has 17.3 million subscriber and nearly 26 billion views. He told NBC News he credits his success with being "entertaining" and "funny."

Ryan made an estimated $21 million from advertising on two accounts, Ryan ToysReview and Ryan's Family Review, and $1 million in sponsored posts, Forbes reports. A train, car, Disney, and Lego connoisseur, he's also now the creative director of his own toy and clothing line, Ryan's World, sold at Walmart. That's not his only new revenue source; in October, it was announced that his YouTube content will soon be distributed through Hulu and Amazon. These deals were not counted in this year's estimate, meaning next year, he'll pull in even more money. Catherine Garcia

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