YouTube’s highest earner: A 7-year-old boy is making $22 million a year on YouTube reviewing toys

A 7-year-old toy reviewer has become YouTube’s highest-earning star, making $29.8 million in one year.

On Monday, Forbes released its annual list of YouTube earners with the channel Ryan ToysReview coming out on top. The channel has amassed more than 17 million followers and close to 26 billion views since launching his main channel in 2015.

Ryan has become a major influencer with 17.3 million followers and nearly 26 billion views, since his channel was launched in March 2015. Some of his more recent videos have also incorporated animation to teach morals and life skills. Ryan ToysReview started out slowly until a July 2015 video went viral. The video featured Ryan opening and reviewing a box containing more than 100 toys from Pixar’s “Cars” series. It has close to 935 million views.

The channel now tends to review new toys or kids’ food products, and the videos usually feature earnest and enthusiastic commentary from Ryan with off-camera guidance from his parents.

Earlier this year, Ryan struck a deal with Walmart to sell a toy line called “Ryan’s World” exclusively in over 2,500 US stores and Walmart’s website, according to Reuters. Ryan’s World was the first merchandise to be sold after Pocket.Watch, a children’s media brand, negotiated licensing deals for several online video stars. Ryan ToysReview has 17 million followers and has gotten a combined 26 billion views, according to Forbes.

COURTESY OF RYAN TOYSREVIEW