‘It’s cool to have this kind of influence, but at the same time it’s kind of scary’
In a piece on Felix ”PewDiePie” Kjellberg, The Wall Street Journal reports that the famed YouTube personality brings in millions of dollars generated from ads placed on his videos. Make that around $4 million per year, courtesy of his 27 million subscribers. And much of it is profit.
Describing his success, Kjellberg told the outlet “What I and other YouTubers do is a very different thing, it’s almost like hanging around and watching your pal play games. My fans care in a different way about what they are watching.” But with notoriety comes added pressure.
“I’m so central to YouTube now, and that puts me in the spotlight and raises a lot of questions like ‘Why is he so big?’ I’d much rather prefer to have something like 5 million subscribers.”
When he’s not screaming — when he’s just having a normal conversation — Kjellberg seems like an okay guy. I can’t begin to understand what fans see in the PewDiePie character, but good for him. He uses his fame to help raise money for charity, at least. I can respect that.
YouTube’s Biggest Draw Plays Games, Earns $4 Million a Year [The Wall Street Journal]
