From supermarket to a $16.5m YouTube star

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From supermarket to a $16.5m YouTube star

The 26-year-old gamer from Aldershot, UK, started off making videos of himself playing Minecraft and Pokemon

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Published: Sat 9 Dec 2017, 10:19 PM

Last updated: Sun 10 Dec 2017, 12:24 AM

Former Tesco supermarket worker Dan Middleton has been named the highest-earning YouTuber of 2017, making $16.5 million this year, according to Forbes magazine.
The 26-year-old gamer from Aldershot, UK, started off making videos of himself playing Minecraft and Pokemon, reported BBC. He's got more than 16 million subscribers and has had more than 10 billion views of all his videos.
The YouTuber, known to his fans as DanTDM, did not feature in the top ten list last year.
DanTDM is a celebrity in a league of his own, with a world tour that included four sold-out nights at the Sydney Opera House, which became the second fastest-selling show in the venue's history.
DanTDM started posting videos, which were aimed at the under-10s, while working in Tesco supermarket.
For the first time, nearly half of the YouTube stars on Forbes annual list are gamers. Viewers flock to their channels to watch them play the latest titles while delivering pithy commentary, Forbes said.
Combined, the world's 10 highest-paid YouTube stars earned $127 million between June 1, 2016 and June 1, 2017, before management fees and taxes, according to Forbes.
The BBC reported that DanTDM told Newsbeat in November that he wasn't prepared for the fame he got from being a YouTuber.
He said it's intense being a role model for young people and is something he's still learning about, the BBC said.
The only woman in the top 10, Canadian Lilly Singh (aka Superwoman), is in 10th place with $10.5 million.
 


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