Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/04/a-7-year-old-boy-was-this-year.html
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That will not end well.
The inevitable court fights over the funds will not be pretty.
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Just goes to show you how much “stupid money” is out there in the American economy. This is just a drop in the total bucket of fortunes made from insubstantial garbage that adds zero value to any thinking adult’s life.
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Ah, here’s what was nagging the back of my head:
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In August, he launched Ryan’s World, a toy and apparel collection sold exclusively at Walmart. The line, which Ryan heavily promotes on his YouTube channel, features a variety of slimes and putties, Ryan action figures, T-shirts, toy cars and more.
He’s already marketed plastered on a surprise egg. Ouroboros complete.
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iDubbbz did a Content Cop on Toy Review Channels a while back:
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Yeah, I hope the parents aren’t spending it on weed & pizza.
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I feel even more sorry for the well-meaning parents and children who will bet heavily on achieving similar success despite the completely insignificant odds.
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When YouTube launched I would’ve never thought a legitimate business plan would be to spoil the shit out my kid, make videos and be rewarded with a mansion in Telluride.
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Um… why?
That’s what we call in this country job creation…
…plus, delicious!
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The kid may be the star, but it’s his parents that are making the money and doing all the marketing, etc.
In principle, I don’t have much of a problem with this, but we’ve all seen what happens when a kid gets too much success too early. It all too often ends in drug- and/or booze-filled tragedy.
I hope he avoids that.
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Look, I realize I’m going to be in the minority here, but suppose, just suppose, that his parents are not greedy dumbfucks but responsible, caring people. They realize that this gravy train will come to a halt in a few years, and have put in place some financial planning and estate trusts that will pay for college, make sure he doesn’t get the money too early to go buck wild on hookers and blow, and everything turns out for the better for everyone.
A wild and boring idea, but still, possible.
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meanwhile, i’m barely keeping my nostrils above the water line. i hate the world sometimes.
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On the other hand, he’ll never have to take out a student loan or pay a mortgage (assuming his parents act at least somewhat sensibly).
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It depends on where the parents were in the beginning. Lottery winners and NFL players go bankrupt at a higher-than-background level because it’s money going to people that have literally never handled $1,000 to their name and usually far less, before they get a check that’s indistinguishable from infinity.
If Mom & Dad here have some experience managing their lives before all this, it might be okay. I hope it will be okay.
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The answer to the “What’s his secret?” question is that a ton of kids watch Youtube, for many many hours at a time.
Look at YouTube’s own statistics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLirAqAtl_h2r5g8xGajEwdXd3x1sZh8hC
The top four are pop song music videos, the fifth is a Russian childrens animation that you’ve probably never heard of.
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So he’s a moderately successful child celebrity. The only unique thing here is the age of the audience.
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Although in this case, at least, one can assume that the ad revenue is coming almost entirely from the views of kids, who probably watch these videos multiple times. (Which is it’s own problem, but…)
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