Let's Break Down Who Deserves Their Money On This Year's Forbes Highest-Earning Influencers List

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Forbes put out their highest-earning influencers/creators list for the year. For some of us, it's a who's-who of who the fuck is that? Of course, when you see what these people are earning, you realize you're the old man in the room. For they are young. And they make the money you'd expect of a Formula 1 star who moonlights as the best pitcher in the MLB. 

I only have thoughts on a few of these people. Here we go: 

1) Mr. Beast 

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Guy is in a league of his own. He makes the others on the list look poor. $82 million this year. Seems like he's raking in more than double what the next echelon of creators make. Just an absolutely insane level of reach. I like him. Not sure exactly how the broader world feels. I remember there was some issue about him helping people regain their eyesight? Like he paid for surgical procedures that would enable people to see, and then there was backlash from the blind community who blamed him for playing God? Was that it? 

Tell you what, kids: life is better when you ignore these things. Well done, Mr. Beast. 

3) Jake Paul 

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Jake Paul made $34 million this year. The majority of it appears to have come from boxing. The Netflix doc on Jake Paul was pretty good, showing a side of him that makes you think the majority of his nonsense is intentional, manufactured; that he has a better handle on his behavior than the rest of us might assume. I just wish he'd put some of that money towards a nipple reconstruction. I don't know what it is but his nipples drive me nuts. Too perky? Too small? I can't figure it out. But something needs to be done. 

Logan comes in three spots lower on the list at #6. Jake's brother made a paltry $21 million this year. Safe to say we can finally put to bed the "which Paul brother is doing better" debate, at least for this year. 

9) Matt Rife

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What a phenomenon. I was in LA just 15 months ago and I went to the Improv, where I watched a then relatively unknown Matt Rife go up and BOMB. In his defense, the crowd was absolute dogshit that night, and every comic came off stage shaking their heads and warning the next comic how bad they were. But it's seared into my brain because it was less than a year after that when Matt Rife's name started popping up EVERYWHERE. Next thing you know, he's legitimately the hottest ticket in all of standup comedy. Now we find out that he made $25 million this year?! That's… nuts. 

Square that with the $75 he was paid 15 months ago for that Improv show. According to Forbes, he's sold "over 750,000 tickets for his international tour." I didn't even know there were that many people living outside America. Holy smokes. 

The bitter, jealous comedian in me wants to hate him. But I've met him a few times and he is the picture of charm and humility. Maybe that's easy to affect in passing moments in green rooms, but fuck it—I like the guy and I'm rooting for him. Well done, Matt. 

12) Alex Cooper 

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Barstool's own Alex Cooper standing tall at #12! She made $20 million this year (this can't be right, since we know she made that from her Spotify deal alone and God knows how much she made on top from endorsements, public appearances, etc.) In addition to her staggering influence and wealth, she got engaged this year! She's also signed Alix Earle (#42 on the list) to her podcast network and it just seems like those two are going to run for the presidency on a combined ticket someday. 

Props to Dave for teaching Alex Cooper everything she knows about media. 

25) Josh Richards

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Had to give our boy JRich some love. At #25 on the list, he made a reported $5 million this year. Damn bro! Save some for the rest of us! Or, you know, keep churning out eps of one of our most successful podcasts ever so that the rest of us can eat. 

Big fan of this fella. Sort of feels like a newer-age, less-brooding Timothy Chalamet. Love Chalamet too. But JRich is more… friendly? Seems it. He's got partnerships in the works with a bunch of gigantic companies and started a VC firm focused on Gen-Z stuff. Seems like he'll be way higher on the list next year. Attaguy!