He's 6 Years Old and Makes Millions on YouTube

Ryan reviews, plays with toys for his family's channel and helps pull in $11M a year
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 11, 2017 11:32 AM CST
Updated Dec 16, 2017 6:08 PM CST

Meet Ryan. He's 6 years old, likes to play with toys, and has just been listed as one of Forbes' highest-earning YouTube celebrities. Per Business Insider, the young entrepreneur, who hosts his family's Ryan ToysReview channel on the video-sharing site, helped his household bring in about $11 million in pretax income this year, simply by opening toys and other products and reviewing them online. This monetized mastery of the "unboxing" phenomenon—what the Verge has described as "a blend of innocent childhood antics and relentless, often overwhelming consumerism"—places Ryan's channel in the No. 8 slot on the Forbes list (tied with the slapstick team Smosh), alongside other big YouTube names like brothers Jake and Logan Paul, Minecraft whiz Daniel "DanTDM" Middleton, and the controversial PewDiePie (real name: Felix Kjellberg).

What makes Ryan unusual is, obviously, his age. "He is definitely the youngest YouTube star we've ever seen," an industry analyst told the Verge in last December's profile. Ryan's parents posted his first video in March 2015 after the YouTube-obsessed preschooler wanted to know why he couldn't dish on toys online like other kids, per a Tubefilter interview from last year. In July of that year, the family experienced its first viral video: Ryan opening a "giant egg surprise" with more than 100 Cars-branded toys. The channel has exploded since, now with over 10 million subscribers and more than 16 million views, per the Washington Post. Ryan's parents told Tubefilter they mainly film on the weekends so it doesn't interfere with their son's schooling and that they pay for all of the toys Ryan reviews. Their channel's "About" section says most of the toys they review end up going to charity. (Read about this year's must-have toy.)

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