DanTDM tops rich list following sold-out tour
British internet personality DanTDM has been named the highest-earning YouTuber of 2017 with a fortune of US$16.5m, bolstered by a recent run of live shows in the US and Australia.
DanTDM, real name Dan Middleton, took to the road with in the US with Live Nation earlier this year, and recently wrapped up a string of shows in Australia, including four sold-out dates at the Sydney Opera House (5,608-cap.).
DanTDM – whose YouTube channel, which focuses primarily on hit video game Minecraft, has almost 17m subscribers –takes the top spot on Forbes’s list of the highest-paid YouTube stars, released today, ahead of fellow gamer Evan Fong. The 2017 list’s cumulative earnings of $127m is up 80% from the $70.5 million the top ten YouTube stars made last year.
Middleton’s net worth in 2016 was estimated at $10m.
Middleton is the latest YouTuber to establish himself as a major live draw, as agents and promoters scrabble to capitalise on a new breed of digital talent. IQ revealed last August that many agents and promoters feel YouTube personalities – and artists establishing themselves on the video platform – are potentially the stadium headliners of the future. “It’s only a matter of time until YouTube becomes a mainstream media platform, and these stars become household names alongside the people who are getting mainstream media exposure now,” said Coda’s Nick Matthews, who represents YouTuber-turned-arena filler Shawn Mendes.
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Concert promoters among Britain’s 1,000 richest
Concert promoters Simon Moran, Denis Desmond and Caroline Downey feature prominently in the 2016 edition of The Sunday Times Rich List, which lists the 1,000 wealthiest people in the United Kingdom.
Moran, the managing director of SJM Concerts and a director of venue owner-operator Academy Music Group, is a new entry at №799 with a fortune of £125 million. Briton Moran also owns a management company and rugby league Warrington Wolves and has a 19 per cent stake worth £10m in T in the Park promoter DF Concerts.
According to the Times, SJM (for ‘Simon James Moran’) – which promotes V Festival and around 2,000 concerts a year – made £14.6m profit in 2014.
Desmond (pictured) and Downey, the Irish co-owners of MCD Productions, have a combined wealth of £155m.
Desmond, who co-founded MCD with Eamonn McCann in 1980, formed the LN-Gaiety Holdings Ltd joint venture with Live Nation in 2004 and was last year appointed to head up the promotion conglomerate’s operations in the UK and Republic of Ireland following the departure of John Probyn.
Ticketmaster international CEO Roger Ames sits just ahead of Moran, with a fortune of £130m, while PJ Harvey and former U2 manager Paul McGuinness is worth £109m.
Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik, worth an eye-watering £11.6 billion, is the wealthiest music industry figure – and third-richest man in Britain overall – trailed in a distant second by Zomba Group founder Clive Calder (£1.7bn). Third is theatre producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh (£1.15bn), with Sir Paul McCartney and wife Nancy Shevell (£760m) fourth, Lord Lloyd-Webber fifth (£715) and U2 (£500m) sixth.
Adele is the highest-ranking British female, and Britain’s richest female ever, with a fortune of £85 million – up £35 million on 2015.