An eight-year-old boy named Ryan has been named the highest paid YouTuber of the year, beating out well known personalities such as makeup mogul Jeffree Star and gamer PewDiePie.
Ryan's parents, who have kept his last name private, started the YouTube channel Ryan ToysReview in 2015, documenting their son reviewing and playing with various toys.
The young multi-millionaire now has over 17 million subscribers and nearly 26 billion views across all his videos.
According to Forbes, Ryan ToysReview pulled in a whopping US$22 million (NZ$28.9 million) this year - outdoing much older and longer-established giants of the platform.
Ryan jumped to the top spot on Forbes 2018 list from eighth place last year, and has doubled his US$11 million pay check over the last 12 months.
PewDiePie, a gamer once hailed as the most successful YouTuber of all time, is now ranked ninth, having caused controversy by using racial slurs and producing anti-Semitic content over the last few years.
Infamous vlogger Logan Paul comes in tenth on the list after having his revenue stream cut by YouTube as a consequence of his notoriously broadcasting the body of a suicide victim while making jokes.
The Forbes list of 2018's highest paid YouTubers is as follows:
- Ryan ToysReview, US$22 million
- Jake Paul, US$21.5 million
- Dude Perfect, US$20 million
- DanTDM, US$18.5 million
- Jeffree Star, US$18 million
- Markiplier, US$17.5 million
- Vanoss Gaming, US$17 million
- Jackscepticeye, US$16 million
- PewDiePie, US$15.5 million
- Logan Paul, US$14.5 million
Newshub.
