Forbes has released a list of the highest paid YouTube stars for 2016 and the figures are quite staggering. 

PewDiePie, has topped the list with estimated earnings of $15m in the 12 months ending June 2016. This is the second year in a row that the 26 year old has topped the list and he's made a 20% increase in earnings this year, improving on last year's $12m income. 

PewDiePie has 49m subscribers and has recently announced that he plans to delete his account when he reaches 50m due to issues with getting his videos to his subscribers. 

The Swedish gamer whose real name is Felix Kjellberg branched out from his “Let’s Play” videos this year by releasing a book which made the New York Times Bestseller List and a YouTube Red Series called Scare PewDiePie. He also launched a sock line. 

No, really. 

 

Roman Atwood, known for his prank videos, came in at second place with $8m. Atwood appeared in the feature film, Natural Born Pranksters this year and is also working on a book. 

Comedian Lilly Singh rounded out the top three. The Canadian-Indian star earned $7.5m last year largely from her 'Superwoman' channel. She has amassed over 9 million subscribers and has over 1.3 billion views to date. 

 

The full list from Forbes is as follows: 

1. PewDiePie - $15m

2. Roman Atwood - $8m

3. Lilly Singh - $7.5

4. Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox (SMOSH) - $7m

5. Tyler Oakley/Rosanna Pansino (Joint 5th) - $6m

6. Mark Fischbach (a.k.a Markiplier)/German Garmendia (Joint 6th) - $5.5m

7. Rhett and Link/Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings) (Joint 7th) - $5m