MrBeast ranked No. 1 on Forbes Australia’s 2024 Top 50 Creators list, with an estimated $85 million in gross earnings from June 2023 through June 2024. That figure is an estimate of earnings—not net worth or verified take-home income—and the ranking covers creators across platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, not just YouTubers and Instagrammers.
What Forbes’ 2024 creator ranking measured
Forbes Australia published its Top 50 list on October 28, 2024. It estimated creators’ gross earnings for June 2023 through June 2024 and considered follower counts, engagement rates and entrepreneurial activity. Forbes said it excluded equity held in public and private companies, so the earnings figures do not capture the full value of a creator’s business interests.
Forbes described the influencer industry as worth an estimated $250 billion “today” in its 2024 article, and cited a Goldman Sachs forecast that it could reach nearly $500 billion by 2027. The latter is a forecast reported at the time, not a realized result. Forbes’ 2024 list introduction provides that industry context.
Who ranked highest—and how the leading entries compared
Forbes reported almost $720 million in combined earnings for the 50 honorees over the preceding 12 months, $20 million more than in 2023. The creators had added more than 100 million followers since the prior year and collectively had more than 2.7 billion followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, according to the list.
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#1 Best Overall
| Rank | Creator | Estimated gross earnings, June 2023–June 2024 | Followers | Average engagement | Entrepreneurship score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MrBeast | $85 million | 503 million | 2.38% | 4 |
| 2 | Dhar Mann | $45 million | 120 million | 0.33% | 4 |
| 3 | Matt Rife | $50 million | 30.4 million | 3% | 3 |
| 4 | Charli D’Amelio | $23.5 million | 213.5 million | 0.27% | 4 |
| 5 | Stokes Twins | $20 million | 113.7 million | 3.09% | 3 |
These are Forbes’ list metrics, not independently verified income or net-worth figures. Their different signals help explain why the ranking is not simply a descending earnings table: Matt Rife placed third with a reported $50 million estimate, below MrBeast’s $85 million and above several creators ranked ahead of him. Forbes Australia’s article reports the individual figures and methodology.
How Forbes said it ranked creators
Audience and engagement
Forbes worked with creator marketing firm Influential on follower counts and engagement rates. Its engagement calculation used likes, comments and shares divided by total followers. Engagement therefore represents a rate based on those interactions and audience size; it is not itself an earnings figure.
Rank #2
Entrepreneurship
Forbes assigned an entrepreneurship score from 1 to 4. In its description, the low end was associated with traditional advertising, while the high end reflected building companies, brands and services. This score is separate from earnings and helps show why a creator’s business activity mattered to the assessment.
What the ranking cannot tell you about personal wealth
The earnings estimates cover one 12-month period and are gross earnings. Forbes excluded equity in public and private companies. The figures therefore should not be read as creators’ net worth, annual salaries, cash retained after expenses and taxes, or a complete valuation of their businesses. The list offers a comparative estimate for a defined period, not a personal balance sheet.
Why creator businesses matter to the list
Entrepreneurship can mean extending an audience into products or services rather than relying only on advertising. Forbes’ coverage cited MrBeast’s Feastables candy and clothing, Mark Rober’s CrunchLabs STEM subscription boxes, Ryan Kaji’s Ryan’s World toys, and My Nguyen’s My Healthy Dish cookbook as examples of creator-linked businesses and products. These examples illustrate the business dimension behind the score; the list is not a guide to product availability or pricing.
Dhar Mann described his motivation for making videos this way: “The goal from the beginning was to help people going through a tough time in their life. Tough times I went through.” Forbes Australia attributed the statement to Mann. It underscores that the list’s creators span different types of work and audiences, even as Forbes evaluates them through shared audience, earnings and entrepreneurship measures.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is this a list of the richest YouTubers and Instagrammers?
Only in a broad, headline-friendly sense. Forbes’ 2024 selection was a cross-platform creator ranking, including people active on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other social platforms. It is best understood as Forbes’ historical ranking of top creators using estimated gross earnings, audience reach, engagement and entrepreneurship—not a definitive ranking of current wealth or a list limited to two platforms.
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