TikTok Rich List: 5 Top Earners And How They Compare To Stars On Instagram
If the Oracle Corporation (ORCL) entered your investor’s gaze because it won the bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations, then you’ll be doing your due diligence on what drives the platform. One word — influencers. Believe it or not, there’s already a TikTok rich list.
- What is an influencer? If you’re not social media savvy, an influencer is someone who has a lot of followers, and whose posts can “influence” significant audience attention.
- Best way to think of an influencer? Think of an influencer like a TV channel. People tune in and are delivered ads, product placements, and general telemarketing style blurbs.
- What is the limit of an influencer? If an influencer is popular enough, they can become a mainstream celebrity and international brand.
What’s most surprising is how much money these influencers make. Check out the TikTok rich list below.
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The Top 5 Earners On TikTok According To Forbes
Addison Rae Easterling’s revenue is generated through sponsored content posts, from Reebok to Daniel Wellington. In Los Angeles, Rae Easterling helped established Hype House, a content creator collective, where like-minded influencers work together to build their brands. In 2020 Rae Easterling is working on a makeup joint venture with startup Madeby and has become the global spokesperson for teen clothing company American Eagle. Image credit: Addison Rae Easterling on Instagram.
Charli D’Amelio posted for the first time on TikTok June 2019. And quickly rose to fame (and fortune). D’Amelio went to Paris Fashion Week for Prada, has sponsorship deals with EOS cosmetics, and even appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Sabra hummus. D’Amelio is another product of Hype House, and despite only turning 16 in May, she is the face of Hollister and has her own Charli-fashion line. Image credit: Charli D’Amelio on Instagram.
That’s right, the second D’Amelio on this list is the older sister, Dixie D’Amelio. Dixie and sister Charli appear in numerous TikTok videos together. They both recently signed deals with clothing company Hollister and cosmetics company Morphe. Dixie is taking her brand in a different direction to Charli by releasing a single called “Be Happy”. Dixie has 32-million followers and her song has been watched 58-million times to become YouTube’s number one trending video back in June. This is the power of social media influencers. Image credit: Dixie D’Amelio on Instagram.
Loren Gray has released eight singles since 2018 with Virgin Records and has sponsorship deals with Sketchers, Hyundai, and Burger King. Gray is currently working with Revlon, creating content for their products. Up until 2020, Gray had TikTok’s biggest fanbase, and all of this is despite having brand managers botch her earlier online presence. Image credit: Loren Gray on Instagram.
Despite looking like a boy band member, Josh Richards is very business savvy. In one of his many TikTok videos, he said “it’s about creating companies or getting equity in companies.” Or from our perspective, getting shares in those stocks. Richards has had sponsorship deals with Reebok, HouseParty, a music deal with Warner, and even started several companies. Including a talent management company called TalentX, an energy drink brand called Ani Energy and he even sits on the creative suite of Thriller – a possible future TikTok rival. Image credit: Josh Richards on Instagram.
The Top Earning U.S. Instagram Celebrities
For comparison to the TikTok rich list, we thought we’d add how much it would cost to get someone on the Instagram rich list to post for your brand.
- Dwayne Johnson – 187-million followers, and it would cost $1,015,000 to have the actor post for your brand.
- Kylie Jenner – 181-million followers, and it would cost $986,000 for a post.
- Kim Kardashian – 175-million followers and it would cost $858,000 for a post.
- Ariana Grande – 191-million followers, $853,000 per post.
- Selena Gomez – 180-million followers, $848,000 per post.
- Beyonce Knowles – 147-million followers, $770,000 per post.
- Justin Bieber – 139-million followers, $747,000 per post.
- Taylor Swift – 135-million followers, $722,000 per post.
- Jennifer Lopez – 124-million followers, $663,000 per post.
- Nicki Minaj – 116-million followers, $625,000 per post.
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Social Media Stock Conclusion
As an investor, you look at the data and the weight of the company and ask, “does it have a track record of success?”
Yet, is that the right question when it comes to social media? There’s two considerations:
- If asking about Facebook, Twitter, and other majors, they’re now ingrained into all aspects of society and it would take a dramatic governmental stance to change that at this point. So doing due diligence on track record makes sense.
- However, for new companies, like TikTok was back in 2016, the track record is less relevant. What’s more relevant is “what are influencers doing?”
So when approaching your due diligence on new and upcoming social media platforms, also ask:
- How successful are its influencers?
- And how many influencers from other social media platforms are heading to it?
And always remember, every investment has risk. Only invest what you can afford to lose.