American YouTube star and entrepreneur MrBeast has retained his position as the world’s highest-earning digital creator after topping the 2026 Forbes Top Creators ranking, as the industry’s biggest influencers generated more than $1 billion in combined earnings over the past year.
The annual ranking, released by Forbes on July 1, showed that the top 50 creators earned a combined $1.02 billion between March 2025 and March 2026, representing a 20 per cent increase from the $853 million recorded in 2025 and an 80 per cent 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 in its report.
Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as 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.
Digital entrepreneur Dhar Mann ranked second with $65 million, while British entrepreneur and podcast host Steven Bartlett placed third with $52 million.
Gaming creator Markiplier finished fourth 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 said this year’s ranking was compiled using estimated gross earnings, audience size, engagement and business ventures, reflecting how leading creators are transforming personal brands into global companies.
Full list of Forbes Top 50 Creators 2026
1 MrBeast $300m 873m
2 Dhar Mann $65m 171m
3 Steven Bartlett $52m 38.7m
4 Markiplier $38m 76.8m
5 Rhett & Link $37m 45.6m
6 Codie Sanchez $31m 10m
7 IShowSpeed $30m 184m
8 Mark Rober $30m 90.7m
9 Ms. Rachel $26m 34.2m
10 Jesser $25m 54.9m
11 MrBallen $24m 31.4m
12 Druski $20m 38.5m
13 Charli D’Amelio $18m 209.8m
14 Jacksepticeye $18m 48.9m
15 Adam W $17.3m 67.2m
16 Rebecca Zamolo $15m 45.3m
17 Jake Shane $14m 6m
18 Nick DiGiovanni $14m 65.4m
19 Brent Rivera $13.7m 120.8m
20 Typical Gamer $13m 31.6m
21 Jordan The Stallion $12.4m 49.1m
22 Stokes Twins $12.4m 177.5m
23 Alix Earle $12m 14.5m
24 Marques Brownlee $10.9m 33.6m
25 Alan Chikin Chow $10.5m 131.4m
26 Ashton Hall $10m 38.1m
27 Khaby Lame $9.9m 252.1m
28 James Dumoulin $9.9m 23.2m
29 Haley Baylee $9.6m 37.4m
30 Mikayla Nogueira $9m 21.8m
31 Vivian Tu $8.2m 10.7m
32 Dani Austin $8.1m 3.8m
33 Tana Mongeau $8m 22.8m
34 Nara Smith $7.5m 17.3m
35 Nurse John $7.2m 19.2m
36 Leah Kateb $7.1m 11.4m
37 Dixie D’Amelio $7m 72.9m
38 Erika Kullberg $6.8m 21m
39 Lexi Rivera $6.7m 56.3m
40 Josh Richards $6m 34.7m
41 Hannah Stocking $5.8m 74.4m
42 Katie Fang $5.4m 8.2m
43 Brooke Monk $5.2m 72.2m
44 Anwar Jibawi $5m 83.9m
45 Anna Sitar $4.4m 27.7m
46 iJustine $3.4m 12.9m
47 Tini Younger $3m 16.3m
48 Drew Afualo $2.7m 13.4m
49 Steven He $2m 29.6m
50 Logan Moffitt $1.3m 10.6m