Forbes has released their list of the best content creators for 2023.Only seven Black content developers were named among the 50 who made the list. With a total following of 2.6 billion, the 50 creators earned an estimated $700 million.
“To rank the world’s Top Creators, Forbes crunched data on the estimated earnings, follower counts, engagement rates, and entrepreneurial activities of thousands of internet personalities with the help of the creator marketing firm, Influential,” according to the publication.
The seven Black content creators on Forbes’ 2023 Top Creators list are shown below.
1. Olajide Olatunji (KSI)
Olajide Olatunji (KSI) is a British-Nigerian content producer who went from commenting and reacting to FIFA video games on YouTube to being one of the world’s most famous influencers.
His adventure began in 2008, when he first appeared on YouTube. A year later, his channel, KSIOlajideBT, was founded, and he began filming himself playing video games – usually FIFA – and running comedic commentary, which won him millions of followers.
A decade later, KSI has amassed a fortune because to the success of his YouTube channel. He has over 40 million subscribers and has over 10 billion views in total. Today, he manages YouTube with other businesses such as music, boxing, and his boxing company, MisFits Boxing. He also owns Prime Hydration energy drink, which he co-owns with former boxing adversary Logan Paul. The energy drink has swept the business, becoming immensely famous among its young followers. The beverage has even partnered with the Arsenal Football Club.
He has a total earnings of $24 million, according to Forbes’ ‘Top Creators 2023’ list. His ranking on the list places him among the world’s top content creators, with not only a vast following but also a massive fortune.
2. Khaby Lame
Khaby Lame has built a reputation for himself by performing comedic sketches in which he mocks unnecessarily intricate “life hacks” without saying anything.By the end of 2022, Lame had amassed over 160 million fans on TikTok, pushing him to notoriety as one of the world’s most influential black individuals.
With a social media following of 224 million, he earned $16.5 million in the last year, making him one of the world’s highest-paid content providers, according to Forbes. His profits place him 11th on Forbes’ newly announced list of the world’s leading creators.
3. Drew Desbordes (Druski)
Drew Desbordes (Druski) is a comedian who has captivated and respected audiences like no other. He has not only won many hearts with his comedic sketches, but he has also left his mark on the entertainment business.
He has effectively parlayed his sense of humour into a media empire. According to Forbes, he has opened for multiple gigs by artists such as J. Cole and Lil Baby. Druski is also an actor, having been in TV shows such as “House Party” and “Praise This,” as well as his own sold-out comedy tour “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.” The first tour began in March 2023 in Richmond, Virginia, and stopped in 30 different locations.
He also has his own parody label, Coulda Been Records, as well as business collaborators such as Nike, Google, and AT&T. In addition, he is the spokesperson for Happy Dad, a hard seltzer brand that he owns in part.
He has established his own sports agency, 4Lifers. His firm made an immediate impact by signing Florida Gators edge rusher Princely Umanmielen as its first athlete client.
According to Forbes, he is one of the top-earning content creators in the world, with a social media following of 12 million and profits of $10 million. His profits place him 20th on Forbes’ newly announced list of the world’s leading creators.
4. Marques Brownlee
Marques Brownlee, sometimes known as MKBHD, is a renowned tech YouTuber. His career as a content creator began in 2009, when he was in high school. He remembered saving his parents’ allowance to buy a laptop at the time.
He became a tech critic after converting his hobby into a full-time job, reviewing anything technological on his YouTube channel. In 2013, former Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra referred to Brownlee as “the best technology reviewer on the planet.”
He now has over 17 million members on his site and has interviewed celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Kobe Bryant, and Barack Obama. According to Forbes, he has earned a total of $8.5 million, making him one of the world’s highest-paid content providers. He is ranked 32nd on the list.
5. Kai Cenat
Kai Cenat is a Twitch and YouTube creator with a total of 22 million followers. With his gaming and pranks, the 21-year-old has captivated a large audience. He has over 6.5 million followers on Twitch alone, making him the most-subscribed individual on the platform, and 4 million on YouTube. He began creating YouTube prank and challenge content in 2018 as a New York resident of Haitian and Trinidadian background.
In January 2023, he set a new record by livestreaming around the clock for a 30-day “subathon” to boost subscriptions. With over 300,000 paying viewers, he apparently shattered the previous record for active subscribers.
As a result of this shift, he was named “Streamer of the Year” at the Streamer Awards in March. He received a similar honor in October of last year. Cenat has the greatest engagement rate among Forbes Top Creators List 2023, with about 26% of his audience tuning in to watch his frenzied livestreams, according to Forbes.
His social media activities have earned him $4.7 million, according to Forbes. According to Forbes, this places him among the top-earning content providers in the world. He is number 44 on the list.
6. Monet McMichael
Monet McMichael is a beauty influencer who graduated from Rutgers. Her journey began while she was still in school, when she began sharing strange videos. According to Forbes, it began as a hobby, but when her work became viral, she converted it into her main source of income.
McMichael was hired as a professional content creator by a haircare brand in February 2022. “I was super excited,” she said about the deal. “I remember I told my mom about it.”
She has 5 million followers on various media. She has over 2.9 million followers and 134 million likes on TikTok alone, for a total social reach of 3.6 million across that platform and others like Instagram and YouTube. She is ranked 47th on Forbes’ 2023 Top Creators list and has a total earnings of $4 million.
7. Drea Okeke (Drea Knows Best)
Drea Okeke is a content creator who used to be an engineer. The Nigerian American’s skills include comedy, storytelling, consulting, motivational speaking, and public speaking. She has been lauded as one of the TikTok accounts to follow over the years.
She has seven million TikTok followers and has worked with Nissan, Google, Coca-Cola, 7-Eleven, Disney, Netflix, McDonald’s, and TikTok. She also owns Next Level Influence, an education company that teaches people how to develop digital communities.
She earned $1 million in 2023 and is rated 49 on Forbes’ 2023 Top Creators list.