Subscribers: 54.1 million
2016 estimated salary: $15 million
In his YouTube videos, PewDiePie is boisterous and goofy, playing video games and swearing up a storm. PewDiePie — the YouTube name of 27-year-old Swede Felix Kjellberg — has used his charisma and close relationship to subscribers (who he calls "bros") to build a lucrative career around his YouTube output. But PewDiePie came into a negative spotlight recently after a Wall Street Journal report described anti-Semitic messages in his videos, leading Disney and YouTube to cut direct business ties with him (though he hasn't actually been banned from YouTube).
PewDiePie apologized for taking a joke too far, but maintained his right to joke about any topic, and flipped a middle finger to the media in a response video. Since then, PewDiePie's subscriber count has only gone up, and he has said he's excited about the new opportunities afforded him as an independent creator.