American YouTube star, Jimmy Donaldson popularly known as MrBeast, has retained his position as the world’s highest earning digital creator.
This is coming after the entrepreneur and industry’s biggest influencer topped the 2026 Forbes Top Creators ranking, generating more than $1 billion in combined earnings over the past year.
Released by Forbes on July 1, the annual ranking showed that the top 50 creators earned a combined $1.02 billion between March 2025 and March 2026, representing a 20% increase from the $853 million recorded in 2025 and an 80% rise since the inaugural list in 2022.
According to Forbes, the creator economy has evolved into a major entertainment industry, with digital creators expanding beyond social media into television, streaming, publishing, consumer products and technology ventures.
“The creator economy is no longer trying to break into show business it is show business,” Forbes stated.
MrBeast claimed the top spot after recording an estimated $300 million in earnings and building a global audience of 873 million followers across various platforms.
His growing business empire includes Beast Industries, Feastables, Lunchly, Viewstats, YouTube and Amazon Prime’s hit reality series, Beast Games.
Ranking second is digital entrepreneur, Dhar Mann with $65 million, while British entrepreneur and podcast host, Steven Bartlett placed third with $52 million.
Gaming creator, Markiplier finished 4th after earning $38 million, while comedy duo, Rhett & Link rounded out the top five with $37 million.
The top 10 also featured Codie Sanchez, Mark Rober, IShowSpeed, Druski and Charli D’Amelio, highlighting the growing influence of creators across entertainment, education, gaming, finance and lifestyle content.
Forbes stated that the 2026 ranking was compiled using estimated gross earnings, audience size, engagement and business ventures, reflecting how leading creators are transforming personal brands into global companies.
THE FULL LIST:
- MrBeast – $300m – 873m
- Dhar Mann – $65m – 171m
- Steven Bartlett – $52m – 38.7m
- Markiplier – $38m – 76.8m
- Rhett & Link – $37m – 45.6m
- Codie Sanchez – $31m – 10m
- IShowSpeed – $30m -184m
- Mark Rober – $30m – 90.7m
- Ms. Rachel – $26m – 34.2m
- Jesser – $25m – 54.9m
- MrBallen – $24m – 31.4m
- Druski – $20m – 38.5m
- Charli D’Amelio – $18m – 209.8m
- Jacksepticeye – $18m – 48.9m
- Adam W – $17.3m – 67.2m
- Rebecca Zamolo – $15m – 45.3m
- Jake Shane – $14m – 6m
- Nick DiGiovanni – $14m – 65.4m
- Brent Rivera – $13.7m – 120.8m
- Typical Gamer – $13m – 31.6m
- Jordan The Stallion – $12.4m – 49.1m
- Stokes Twins – $12.4m – 177.5m
- Alix Earle – $12m – 14.5m
- Marques Brownlee – $10.9m – 33.6m
- Alan Chikin Chow – $10.5m – 131.4m
- Ashton Hall – $10m – 38.1m
- Khaby Lame – $9.9m – 252.1m
- James Dumoulin – $9.9m – 23.2m
- Haley Baylee $9.6m 37.4m
- Mikayla Nogueira – $9m – 21.8m
- Vivian Tu – $8.2m – 10.7m
- Dani Austin – $8.1m – 3.8m
- Tana Mongeau – $8m – 22.8m
- Nara Smith – $7.5m – 17.3m
- Nurse John – $7.2m – 19.2m
- Leah Kateb – $7.1m – 11.4m
- Dixie D’Amelio – $7m – 72.9m
- Erika Kullberg – $6.8m – 21m
- Lexi Rivera – $6.7m – 56.3m
- Josh Richards – $6m – 34.7m
- Hannah Stocking – $5.8m – 74.4m
- Katie Fang – $5.4m – 8.2m
- Brooke Monk – $5.2m – 72.2m
- Anwar Jibawi – $5m -83.9m
- Anna Sitar – $4.4m – 27.7m
- iJustine – $3.4m – 12.9m
- Tini Younger – $3m – 16.3m
- Drew Afualo – $2.7m – 13.4m
- Steven He – $2m – 29.6m
- Logan Moffitt – $1.3m – 10.6m