MrBeast has retained his position as the world’s highest-earning digital creator after topping the 2026 Forbes Top Creators ranking.
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This is as the industry’s 50 biggest influencers generated a combined $1.02 billion over the past year.
The annual ranking, released by Forbes on July 1 and sighted on Sunday by our correspondent, showed the top creators increased their combined earnings by 20 per cent from $853 million in 2025 and by 80 per cent from the inaugural list in 2022.
According to the publication, the creator economy has evolved into a mainstream entertainment industry, with social media personalities producing films, television content and large-scale business ventures that increasingly rival traditional Hollywood studios.
“The creator economy is no longer trying to break into show business—it is show business,” Forbes said in its report.
Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, topped the list with estimated earnings of $300 million, supported by a global social media following of 873 million.
His business empire spans YouTube, Beast Industries, Feastables, Lunchly, Viewstats and Amazon Prime’s reality competition series, Beast Games.
Dhar Mann ranked second with estimated earnings of $65 million, followed by British entrepreneur and podcast host Steven Bartlett with $52 million.
Gaming creator Markiplier placed fourth after earning $38 million, while comedy duo Rhett & Link completed the top five with $37 million.
The top 10 also featured Codie Sanchez, Mark Rober, IShowSpeed, Druski and Charli D’Amelio.
Forbes noted that leading creators are increasingly expanding beyond social media into streaming, publishing, advertising, technology and consumer products.
Forbes said the 2026 ranking was based on estimated gross earnings between March 2025 and March 2026, while also considering creators’ audience size, engagement levels and entrepreneurial activities.
Full list of Forbes Top 50 Creators 2026
- MrBeast — $300 million — 873 million followers
- Dhar Mann — $65 million — 171 million followers
- Steven Bartlett — $52 million — 38.7 million followers
- Markiplier — $38 million — 76.8 million followers
- Rhett & Link — $37 million — 45.6 million followers
- Charli D’Amelio — $18 million — 209.8 million followers
- Druski — $20 million — 38.5 million followers
- I Show Speed — $30 million — 184 million followers
- Mark Rober — $30 million — 90.7 million followers
- Codie Sanchez — $31 million — 10 million followers
- Jake Shane — $14 million — 6 million followers
- Brent Rivera — $13.7 million — 120.8 million followers
- Adam W — $17.3 million — 67.2 million followers
- Jesser — $25 million — 54.9 million followers
- Khaby Lame — $9.9 million — 252.1 million followers
- Alix Earle — $12 million — 14.5 million followers
- Mikayla Nogueira — $9 million — 21.8 million followers
- Stokes Twins — $12.4 million — 177.5 million followers
- Nick DiGiovanni — $14 million — 65.4 million followers
- Rebecca Zamolo — $15 million — 45.3 million followers
- MrBallen — $24 million — 31.4 million followers
- Drew Afualo — $2.7 million — 13.4 million followers
- Haley Baylee — $9.6 million — 37.4 million followers
- Ms. Rachel — $26 million — 34.2 million followers
- Alan Chikin Chow — $10.5 million — 131.4 million followers
- Typical Gamer — $13 million — 31.6 million followers
- Marques Brownlee — $10.9 million — 33.6 million followers
- Nurse John — $7.2 million — 19.2 million followers
- Tana Mongeau — $8 million — 22.8 million followers
- Josh Richards — $6 million — 34.7 million followers
- Dixie D’Amelio — $7 million — 72.9 million followers
- Dani Austin — $8.1 million — 3.8 million followers
- Nara Smith — $7.5 million — 17.3 million followers
- Lexi Rivera — $6.7 million — 56.3 million followers
- Jacksepticeye — $18 million — 48.9 million followers
- Tini Younger — $3 million — 16.3 million followers
- James Dumoulin — $9.9 million — 23.2 million followers
- Brooke Monk — $5.2 million — 72.2 million followers
- Hannah Stocking — $5.8 million — 74.4 million followers
- Erika Kullberg — $6.8 million — 21 million followers
- Ashton Hall — $10 million — 38.1 million followers
- Leah Kateb — $7.1 million — 11.4 million followers
- Katie Fang — $5.4 million — 8.2 million followers
- Anna Sitar — $4.4 million — 27.7 million followers
- Vivian Tu — $8.2 million — 10.7 million followers
- Jordan The Stallion — $12.4 million — 49.1 million followers
- Anwar Jibawi — $5 million — 83.9 million followers
- iJustine — $3.4 million — 12.9 million followers
- Steven He — $2 million — 29.6 million followers
- Logan Moffitt — $1.3 million — 10.6 million followers
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