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There are countless short videos on YouTube. It's a website for people to post video made by themselves. Many people make a lot of money through doing so. Then, who made the most over the past year?
YouTube's top-earning celebrity is a 25-year-old video-game-playing young man who shows a strong sense of humor in his videos. He earned $12 million over the past year. Forbes magazine says Sweden's Felix Kjellberg, better known by his handle "PewDiePie", tops its first list of people who have turned short videos into huge piles of cash.
YouTube stars make money mainly by getting paid to interact with products on their channels and sharing ad revenue(收入) with YouTube. Some also star in movies, write books, go on tour, or sell music. They're a hit with younger audiences and brands trying to reach the next generation of consumers.
Two acts tied for the second place on Forbes' list, both earning $8.5 million: comedy prankster(搞恶作剧的人) duo Smosh(Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla) and the Fine Brothers(Benny and Rafi Fine). Dancing violinist Lindsey Stirling ranked fourth with $6 million. Tied for fifth were comedians Rhett and Link(made of Rhett McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln III) and video game commentators(解说员) Olajide Olatunji, known as "KSI," with $4.5 million. Make-up artist Michelle Phan was seventh at $3 million. The No. 8 place was a three-way tie at $2.5 million shared by comedian Lilly Singh, or "Superwoman;" prankster Roman Atwood; and chef Rosanna Pansino.
Forbes is best known for its list of billionaires and this list marks its first attempt at ranking YouTube stars. It says it measured earnings before management fees and taxes and came up with the figures based on data from online sources such as Nielsen, IMDb and interviews with managers, lawyers, industry insiders and the stars themselves.
