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The beginning of the 2010s marked a new form of entertainment that focused more on digitally distributing content. This allowed people to create their forms of entertainment while simultaneously earning money and launching a self-made career in the industry. The continuous rise of social media paved the way for digital creators to express themselves freely just like how Charli D' Amelio accumulated her wealth through the digital platform – without the constant supervision of managers or a corporation that dictates what they can and cannot do.
One social media platform that allowed this is YouTube, an American online video-sharing platform. Today, YouTube has expanded beyond letting creators post covers or short-form comedy videos. It now has mobile apps, network television, and live streams. With its incredible impact on society and influence on pop culture, it's easy to imagine why people have been scrambling to create content to boost their algorithm on YouTube and get in on the clout.
Ray William Johnson's Humble Beginnings
Ray William Johnson was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Before he became the internet's most prominent celebrity in the early 2010s, he had plans to earn a law degree. He attended the Columbia University School of General Studies to study history for his pre-law but didn't graduate. At the time, YouTube was also gaining traction as a social media platform. Ray then started posting videos while he was still in college, where the content was him publishing video blogs, or vlogs as they are now called. He had around 30 subscribers at this point but continuously posted videos regularly. Eventually, he started a web series called Equals Three, which is a short comedy show with different hosts where they talked about everything. Because of Equals Three, Ray had unwittingly pioneered a YouTube content brand, now known as the YouTuber-Reacts-Type of video format.
Some of the videos from the show are still posted, while others have now been deleted or are no longer viewable. This internet series lasted from February 2009 until March 2014 and is very popular as it is one of the most popular in the YouTube history. It also boosted his YouTube channel and helped Ray reach over five million subscribers within a short period, making him the first person to get that many subscribers in the platform's history. The success of the social media platform cannot be made without its most popular creators from 10 years ago. One such example is Ray William Johnson, an internet celebrity that rose to fame because of his YouTube channel.
Johnson's Rags To Riches Story
Ray also started a side channel called Your Favorite Martian, where he produced animated music videos. However, in October of 2012, Ray hit a snag with Maker Studios, the company that helps produce his videos for Equals Three. He reported that the studio had been pressuring him to sign a new contract that would limit his access to his AdSense account. This program helps creators generate revenue from their videos or other content. Moreover, he said that they would reportedly take 40% of his earnings from the show, which would have required Ray to give up 50% of his intellectual property rights to Equals Three and Your Favorite Martian.
Instead of giving in to the corporate pressure, Ray founded his production studio called Equals Three Studio to continue producing his favorite show. It might be as grand as Tyler Perry's multimillion studio, but his studio can produce quality content. Your Favorite Martian, however, ended on November 2012. In December 2013, Ray announced that Equals Three would be coming to an end because he wanted to focus on other projects. At this point, his channel had over 10 million subscribers and was raking in 2.6 billion total views. The show continued in 2014, but has had different hosts since then.
Continuous Success And Minting Millions
The success of Equals Three transcended the social media platform because Ray had numerous celebrity guests featured in his videos. Some of them were Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, and John Cho. Ray continued to produce comedy series for his main channel although it might be as popular as the best animated series of all time, his content continuously earn viewers everyday. The shows included Booze Lightyear, a scripted sketch comedy that featured different actors in comedic situations, and Top 6, which is a show that discusses six items on a list. Another show was Comedians On, which premiered in July 2015 and featured numerous comedians discussing a chosen topic beforehand.
Aside from his YouTube career, Ray was also cast in an indie film project called Who's Driving Doug. Because of his success in the entertainment industry, he co-created a film production company called Mom & Pop Empire. The film production company was responsible for producing the film Manson Family Vacation, whose rights were eventually purchased by Netflix. Ray continues to upload vlogs on his YouTube channel these days, including creating music under a different alias, Fat Damon. He has since focused on making short-form comedy and inspirational content on Facebook and Instagram. Due to his colorful and successful career as one of YouTube's top content creators, Ray William Johnson currently has a net worth of $10 million, making him one of the biggest YouTubers in the world.
Sources: Celebrity Net Worth, Forbes, Business Insider,