MrBeast has kept his title as the highest-earning digital creator in the world. He topped the 2026 Forbes Top Creators ranking.
The top 50 influencers in the industry made a total of $1.02 billion over the past year.
Forbes released the annual ranking on July 1. Our correspondent saw the report on Sunday. The top creators' earnings rose by 20 percent from $853 million in 2025. This is also an 80 percent increase from the first list in 2022.
The publication said the creator economy has turned into a big entertainment business. Social media stars are now making movies, TV shows, and big business projects that can compete with traditional Hollywood studios.
"The creator economy is no longer trying to break into show business, it is show business," Forbes stated in its report.
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, leads the list with estimated earnings of $300 million. He has a huge social media following of 873 million.
His business empire includes YouTube, Beast Industries, Feastables, Lunchly, Viewstats, and Amazon Prime’s reality competition show, Beast Games.
Dhar Mann came second with estimated earnings of $65 million. British entrepreneur and podcast host Steven Bartlett ranked third with $52 million.
Gaming creator Markiplier took fourth place with $38 million. Comedy duo Rhett & Link rounded out the top five with $37 million.
The top 10 also includes Codie Sanchez, Mark Rober, IShowSpeed, Druski, and Charli D’Amelio.
Forbes pointed out that many leading creators are moving beyond social media. They are getting into streaming, publishing, advertising, technology, and consumer goods.
Forbes explained that the 2026 ranking is based on estimated gross earnings from March 2025 to March 2026. They also looked at the size of the creators’ audiences, their engagement levels, and their business activities.
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