TORONTO — Felix Kjellberg — aka “PewDiePie” — is speaking out about the fact that he made $7.4 million in 2014, which has left some people outraged. The 25-year-old college dropout, who has more YouTube subscribers than there are people in Canada, earns his fortune playing video games and recording his reaction to them.
Or as some commenters view it, “he sits on his ass, yelling at the screen all day.” Kjellberg admits that’s true, but stresses “there’s so much more to it than that.”
“I do work a tremendous amount. Ask my girlfriend,” he says in a new video titled, “Let’s Talk About Money.”
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The video has been viewed more than two million times since it was posted on Tuesday. In it, Kjellberg delves into a topic that he says he usually tries to avoid.
“I just feel like it’s not important to anyone…I just want to make entertaining videos. Don’t get me wrong, though. I don’t hate money,” he says with a laugh. “I’m not going to pretend like it doesn’t matter to me.”
As his earnings continue to climb (he earned $4 million from ad revenue in 2013), Kjellberg maintains a belief that money doesn’t make you happy. Although it has helped with his rent.
When he started five years ago, he was working at a hot dog stand after dropping out of college. It was only after selling some of his artwork online that he could afford to even launch his YouTube venture, which he insists he’d still be doing even if it weren’t profitable because he enjoys it so much. He never thought it would take off like it has.
“It’s just something that I love to do, and here we are five years later.”
After addressing some of his “favourite” comments he’s come across online, Kjellberg acknowledges that he doesn’t know why he became big either.
The beauty of YouTube, he points out, is that “anyone can technically do it.” In the video, Kjellberg even tells one critic that he can do it too. “I believe in you.”
Kjellberg’s worth may be even greater next year. The YouTube star has a book coming out this fall. According to Amazon, This Book Loves You will be “a collection of beautifully illustrated inspirational sayings by which you should live your life.”
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