Ranked: These are the TikTok stars making millions of dollars every year

TikTok is a fun place to be for a number of reasons, whether it’s the dancing or the anything-but-dancing, but what you may not have realised is to what extent you’re lining these people’s pockets. You’d certainly be forgiven for thinking: “Yeah, they’re famous and all, but surely they can’t make that much money? I mean for starters they’re all like 17, and the app is free so we’re not exactly putting money directly into their pockets.” Oh lord, how wrong you’d be.

Forbes has produced its first-ever list of TikTok’s highest-paid stars and, as it turns out, through various brand deals and merch sales, they’ve made literal MILLIONS of dollars from their legions of young fans which is just absurd – especially when most of them only started around a year ago. So, here are the TikTokers making the most money on the app currently.

Spencer X – $1.2 million

@spencerxBeat challenge!! 🗣🎶🔥 @jasonderulo♬ original sound – spencerx

Spencer X is a beatboxing YouTuber who can often be seen collaborating with various big brands as well as celebrities. The 28-year-old has been beatboxing since he was a child and even dropped out of college in order to perform at gigs before starting TikTok and moving to LA.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDfLLZLjqii/

Since then he’s had sponsorships with Uno, Oreo and Sony, which have raked him in over one million dollars in the last 12 months alone. He now lives in a two-floor house in Hollywood and is working on releasing his latest singles, all from saying boots and cats into a microphone!

Michael Le – $1.2 million

@justmaikookay… my favorite trend on tiktok rn😂😂 @javierr @bryce.mckenzie♬ Love Story Discolines – ethanishung

Next up for TikTokers that you’ve never heard of but are earning more money in a year than you will in your life is Michael Le, who earnt $1.2 million in the last year from his TikTok videos. He rents a 9,000 square foot mansion in LA with four other creators that he calls the Shluv House, having started a TikTok group akin to the Hype House.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCzfTHtJCSj/

His videos feature anything from skits to dance routines, and if the fact that Forbes claims he has a total of 478 million views on his profile is anything to go by, people enjoy what he does. He has a regular partnership with Bang energy drinks (seriously, we’re talking several posts a week with their products) and he claims that YouTube is his next moneymaking endeavour.

Josh Richards – $1.5 million

@joshrichardsFound this crusty hat in the garage so had to hit a tiktok w it♬ Wet Shoota – sound.remixes

If the above TikTok hasn’t made you want to gauge your eyeballs out, then this will make you want to do something far more egregious – this boy made $1.5 million in the last 12 months from videos of this nature. Josh Richards, a TikToker that has had sponsorship deals with Reebok and HouseParty, also makes money from merch sales, YouTube and even a record deal with Warner Records.

Oh, and his own talent management company, his own drinks company and a role as chief strategy officer at a TikTok competitor called Triller.

It’s undeniable that he’s done well with his career at such a young age, but it’s come at a cost. Whether it’s deliberately starting feuds for content or cofounding the Sway House which had two members arrested on drug charges, he’s since had to move away from that lifestyle: “I was going down a path I hadn’t planned on.”

Loren Gray – $2.6 million

@lorengrayno laffy taffy 😪♬ Laffy taffy Remix flyboyfu vocals produced by Adub – waikiki_fields

Loren Gray used to be the most followed TikToker until Queen Charli stepped up to the plate. Loren made nearly three million dollars in the past year for her deal with Virgin Records which has produced eight singles to date, her sponsored content with brands like Skechers, Hyundai and Burger King and her current deal with beauty company Revlon.

She recently spoke of Trump’s potential ban of the app, saying that she wouldn’t have a problem with it if it’s “in the best interests of the country.”

Dixie D’Amelio – $2.9 million

@dixiedameliobest dancers on this app @imgriffinjohnson♬ Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) – Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo

Dixie D’Amelio, the older sister of Charli, has made nearly three million dollars in the last year which is absolutely nuts. A keen dancer to all the usual routines that are plastered across the app, D’Amelio lives in LA with her sister.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDhz7yxDGNv/

She has 32 million followers and has signed deals with Hollister and Morphe, plus she recently started her own music career with her first single “Be Happy”, which has amassed over 60 million views. Again, for a humble TikTok star, this is ABSOLUTELY nuts.

Charli D’Amelio – $4 million

@charlidameliowearing piggy pink the perfect pink color teeheeeee @orosabeauty ##orosaxcoastalcraze♬ Pump It x Rodeo – djtvmpo

Charli only started posting in June of 2019, which makes her rise to fame nothing short of astronomical. For those that aren’t familiar, her dance videos have led her everywhere from opening for the Jonas Brothers to being on Jimmy Fallon’s talk show.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDehwnjD_xa/

If that wasn’t impressive enough, she went to Paris Fashion Week with Prada, appeared in a Super Bowl commercial (a privilege usually reserved for the most A of listers) and became the new face of Hollister with her sister. And she’s 16. But if Charli made $4 million in the last 12 months, then who has beaten all the competition at $5 million?

Addison Rae – $5 million

@addisonre@enzoeli♬ Wet slowed – htttp.skye

Here we are. Addison Rae, with nearly 60 million followers, earnt five million dollars in the last year from her various pursuits. What are those pursuits, you ask?

A new makeup line, deals with American Eagle and Spotify and merch have all meant she’s been able to fully cash in and live it big. Just a year ago she was starting a journalism course at college before her dance videos started to blow up: “My name would be called out when I was walking to class, which was pretty mind-blowing.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMlGx3Jb0h/

She was one of the founding members of the Hype House, the group of TikTokers that we all love to hate, and then did even more sponsored content with brands like Reebok and Daniel Wellington. And she’s mates with David Dobrik – and who doesn’t want to be mates with David Dobrik?

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Who is Addison Rae? The millionaire TikToker everyone is talking about

• She’s the world’s most followed TikToker, but who actually is Charli D’Amelio?

• Ranked: These are the TikTok users with the most followers