FX.co ★ Young and rich:TikTok’s 7 highest-earning stars

Addison Rae Easterling

Addison Rae Easterling, a young student at the University of Louisiana, takes the first place in the ranking. Her income on TikTok approximately totals $5 million. She started her career as a blogger a year ago by shooting staged videos where she demonstrated her skills in sports dancing. However, shortly after, the number of her subscribers increased to one million people, and her choreographed TikTok videos began to bring high income. Last fall, she started receiving commercial offers for making sponsored content posts. A few months later Addison ditched university in order to pursue celebrityhood full-time. After moving to Los Angeles, Addison met a group of well-known TikTok bloggers and got help from Hype House, a content creator collective, which elevated her profile further. Her earnings from advertising also grew rapidly. At the beginning, she got the typical deals to do her branded merchandise and sponsored content from brands like Reebok and Daniel Wellington. A little bit later, she became the main global spokesperson for American Eagle in the international market. It gave her career a new jump, splashing her image across TV and print advertising. After that, Addison organized a weekly Spotify podcast with her mom, called Mama Knows Best, enabling her to expand her business opportunities.

Charli D'Amelio

Second place of the rating goes to Charli D'Amelio with an income of about $4 million a year. Her first appearance on TikTok came in June last year after posting a series of dance videos that went viral. Then, singer Bebe Rexha invited Charli to open the Jonas Brothers concert in Brooklyn. This was Charlie's finest hour as her life had changed drastically after that. She left her hometown of Norwalk, Connecticut, and moved to Los Angeles. Later, she was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Commercial offers have rained down on her like a horn of plenty. Moreover, she joined Hype House and made short yet highly popular videos with her sister that brought her even more money. Notably, Charli is barely sixteen years old.

Dixie D'Amelio

Dixie D'Amelio, Charlie's younger sister, takes third place on the list. Her annual income comes in at $2.4 million. Dixie finds her fame fully intertwined with her sister’s. No wonder, they made a lot of videos together when Dixie had just started posting videos on her page. They both left home to live in LA. In a short period, Dixie has had 32 million followers. Both girls signed a contract with Hollister and Morphe, a cosmetics company, which brings them solid dividends. Dixie also began to pursue her music career, and in June of this year, she released her first song called Be Happy. Only on the first day, her song became the No. 1 trending video on YouTube with the number of views exceeding 58 million. It is just unbelievable taking into account the fact that she has just started her blogging career.

Lauren Gray

Lauren Gray, whose path to a stellar career was quite thorny, is in fourth place. When she started out, she went through a string of bad talent managers, who gave her misleading advice and persuaded her to turn down some lucrative sponsorship deals. Without agents and PR managers, her career took off immediately and her rating was getting higher week after week. "The only person who knows how to brand Loren Gray and be Loren Gray is Loren Gray," she pointed out. In 2018, she got a deal with Virgin Records, which helped her release eight singles. Notably, at that moment, Gray had the biggest fanbase of any TikToker. Some big companies were interested in signing a contract with the TikTok star. Thus, Lauren became a representative of such brands as Skechers, Hyundai, and Burger King. Her main priority now is her new Revlon deal, creating content for the company’s TikTok account, and making Revlon-related sponsored posts. This contract is sure to boost her earning.

Josh Richards

Fifth place is occupied by Josh Richards with annual earnings of $1.5 million. According to TikToker, fame and popularity alone are not enough to make a solid income. "It’s about creating companies or getting equity in companies," Josh Richards said. "Influencers need to learn how to properly monetize," he added. However, John himself has done plenty of traditional TikTok moneymaking. He signed many advertising contracts with such brands as Reebok and House Party. He launched his own merch line and even released a single in collaboration with the famous record label - Warner Records. Apart from promoting his own name and merch line, Richards is looking for other talented people. He even founded his own talent management company, TalentX. A bit later, Josh surprised his audience by his decision to join Triller, a TikTok rival, and become a co-owner of this startup. Starting on TikTok with an image of a heartthrob and bad boy, in one year, he has turned into a thoughtful media executive. He has decided to leave behind all the scandals and eccentric escapades. Once Josh admitted in an interview that the path of a brawler and edgy teen was not for him. Therefore, he is glad that he has had the chance to start a new chapter.

Michael Le

Sixth line in the ranking is taken by Michael Le, who is definitely not a shy guy. "I'm pushing to be the top influencer on TikTok," he declared. He earns approximately $1.2 million a year. It goes without saying that his income will multiply as long as his TikTok videos are so viral. He likes to shock the audience with his daring videos, e.g. with him sprawling shirtless on a bed in the LA mansion that he and his friends are currently renting. He also started his own TikTok collective called Shluv House. "I know how to pull it all together. To make every video be a skit, be something that’s more than just putting your phone down and recording willy-nilly", he proclaimed. It seems he knows what he is talking about as his two short videos posted this year have accumulated a total of 478 million views. Surprisingly, he did not do anything special on those videos. The blogger just danced on an escalator with his five-year-old brother, who is the co-founder of Shluv House. However, Michael is not going to stop on his TikTok videos. His further goal is to become a YouTube star and present at least five of his series to the public.

Spencer X

Young dreamer Spencer X with an income of $1.2 million closes the ranking. In his childhood, the blogger was obsessively studying beatbox YouTube clips. He also dreamt about being the first big-time celebrity beatboxer. After learning all the subtleties of beatboxing, he began to perform himself, taking any gig he could land to sharpen his skills and show himself. Soon his blogging activity became too time-consuming and he decided to leave college. Twenty-year-old X hardly regrets this decision now. He got on TikTok in February 2019, and in six months, he moved to LA. So far, he has ten million subscribers that ensure his steady income. He also signed many advertising deals. Sponsorships with Uno, Oreo, and Sony made his career look even more promising. He bought a two-story apartment in Hollywood and started recording his first singles. "I’m here to show people that a lot is possible in what we thought was impossible," he said.