Edited by Steven Bertoni. Reporting by Zoya Hasan and Alexandra York, with Sofia Chierchio and Martina Di Licosa.

Photography by Sebastian Nevols for Forbes

The creator economy is no longer trying to break into show business—it is show business. For the first time in the five-year history of the Top Creators list, the ranking of the 50 most powerful influencers collectively broke the billion-dollar mark, bringing in a total of $1.02 billion—a 20% jump from last year's $853 million haul and an 80% surge from the $570 million total earnings from the debut list in 2022.

Social media entrepreneurs are now building hundred-person studios, leading national advertising campaigns and even beating Hollywood at the box office. Consider two recent hit movies: Backrooms, based on Kane Parsons’ horror web series, was made for $10 million and brought in more than $260 million, and Obsession, written and directed by sketch comedy creator Curry Barker, had a budget of $750,000 and has rung up more than $290 million.

On the streaming side, Mark Rober and Ms. Rachel have brought their popular educational shows to Netflix. MrBeast debuted the second season of his Beast Games on Amazon Prime—with Season 3 already in production. Scripted content star Dhar Mann has an always-on channel with Samsung TV and recently partnered with Fox to produce 40 vertical dramas.

As Hollywood studios lose their grip on the entertainment industry—last year, the number people working in Los Angels in the motion picture industry fell to an historic low, according to U.S. labor statistics—Mann has found a sweet spot combining the best aspects of social media and traditional studios. “It's a 21st-century studio,” says Jeffrey Katzenberg, the cofounder of DreamWorks and former chairman of Walt Disney Studios. “He’s taken every old-school aspect of great storytelling and reconceived it for a new audience on a new platform.”

As these new platforms continue to go mainstream and grow—and entrepreneurial Forbes Top Creators continue to expand their brands and empires. As Dhar Mann tells Forbes: “The greatest thing that happened to me was that I had no traditional studio or filmmaking experience.”

Total Followers: 873 M

Avg. Engagement: 3.00%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

Jimmy Donaldson has turned YouTube stunts into a global, multiproduct production studio. His YouTube channels have more than 640 million subscribers and score more than 5 billion views per year. His Beast Industries manages media, his food business (Feastables, Lunchly), analytic tool Viewstats, and toy and clothing licensing business. The company has reportedly taken venture investments at a $5 billion valuation. On the streaming side, he debuted the second season of his wildly popular reality contest show, Beast Games, on Amazon Prime. Season 3 is in production. His next push - personal finance. In February 2026, Beast Industries purchased Step, an app that teaches investing and asset management to teens.

Total Followers: 171 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.09%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

The creator of uplifting Horatio Alger tales for the algorithm, Mann's team of 200 produces digital shows which, on a typical week, rack up nearly 300 million views. Mann's social channels have 160 million global followers. His content is translated into 13 languages. "Most traditional studios create content and hope the audience follows. We listen to the audience and follow what they want." He teamed with the NFL for Superbowl LX as the league's "Chief Kindness Officer." In January, Mann entered a deal with Fox Entertainment to produce vertical dramas. The plan: create 40 dramas in 18 months.

Total Followers: 38.7 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.22%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

The Diary of a CEO host has turned the interview show he started at his kitchen table into a $425 million holding company, Steven.com with a media arm spanning podcasts, book deals, live events and an investment branch. The Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe and Top Creator alum has partnerships with Spotify, LinkedIn and Adobe, among others. He's a new investor in Replit and Lovable, and is back breathing fire for his sixth season of investment show Dragons' Den.

Total Followers: 76.8 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.21%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

Mark Edward Fischbach (aka Markiplier) is bridging content and Hollywood. The gaming streamer's self-funded and self-produced feature film, Iron Lung, aired at 3,000 theaters around North America and earned $50 million at the box office—and he had a 50/50 revenue split with the theaters. Now it's available to purchase on YouTube for viewers around the world. In the meantime, he continues to host his podcasts "Distractible" and "Go! My Favorite Sports Team."

Total Followers: 45.6 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.12%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

The comedy duo annually shoots 240 episodes of their YouTube talk show Good Mythical Morning. The show has nearly 20 million viewers who tune in for taste tests, product reviews, trivia and commentary on cultural trends. Their food show Mythical Kitchen deconstructs fast food and snacks, while their Last Meal segment has featured celebs including Tom Hanks, Gordon Ramsay and Ed Sheeran. The childhood best friends are expanding their audience with a channel on Tubi and an Apple Vodcast. Their fourth food book, Spaghetti Head & Chicken Fingers, debuts this summer.

Total Followers: 209.8 M

Avg. Engagement: 11.59%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

If your TikTok feed suddenly feels like it's 2020 again, you can probably blame Charli D'Amelio. Fresh off her Broadway run in & Juliet, the social media superstar is back to posting the same kinds of dance videos that made her and sister Dixie (#31 on this list) famous, and she's back with YouTube vlogs, too. That's all while serving as a Prada ambassador and starring in campaigns for Kate Spade. The moves may be the same, but the stage is a lot bigger now.

Total Followers: 38.5 M

Avg. Engagement: 13.77%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

The sketch comic these days is everywhere: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and on national TV starring in commercials for T-Mobile and Dunkin'. This June he's hosting the BET Awards. Born Drew Desbordes, Druski continues to collaborate with Hollywood stars across social and mainstream media. Recent pairings: Kevin Hart, Timothee Chalamet, Jeff Bridges and Zoe Saldana.

Total Followers: 184 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.39%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

Speed started slow. In 2016, he launched a YouTube channel to publish gaming videos of NBA 2K and Fortnite. Few followed. Five years later he gained momentum when TikToks of his wild gaming outbursts went viral. He soon pivoted to soccer content, collaborating with superstars including Cristiano Ronaldo. Next came travel content with tours like Speed Does America and the Speed Does Africa. His big influence drives big brand deals: Dick's Sporting Goods, Beats By Dre, and Doritos. This summer, as the soccer world descends on America, he launched his World Cup 2026 Tour with FIFA.

Total Followers: 90.7 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.23%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

Social media's mad scientist attracts more than 57 million YouTube subscribers with his high-production, educational stunts. His team of 100 produces seven-figure episodes to teach core scientific concepts: building a roller coaster to teach physics, escaping Alcatraz through science and teaming up with Ronaldo for a lesson on robotics. Brands like Rivian, Google and Disney flock to his engaging education content. His company CrunchLabs sells science kits via subscription. This spring, the former NASA engineer gave a TED talk on his plan to energize America's STEM education system.

Total Followers: 10 M

Avg. Engagement: 0.37%

Entrepreneurship Score: 4

The former journalist and financier now teaches small business tips across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to more than 7 million followers. Sanchez eschews get-rich-quick schemes, instead focusing on the earning power of so-called boring businesses: laundromats, vending machines, landscaping. "I looked down the pipe and was like, 'Do I want to be a bad guy owning all the........

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