Alright, so today I decided to really dig into how Logan and Jake Paul, those YouTube guys everyone seems to either love or hate, actually built this crazy money machine. Honestly, I kinda always thought they were just loud guys making dumb videos, but man, was I wrong. I wanted to understand the real business behind the headlines.
Starting Simple: The YouTube Stuff
I started where everyone else does – their main YouTube channels. Like, everyone knows they made bank from ads, right? I pulled up some public estimates and reports. Those view counts are insane, millions per video in the early days. Even with ad rates dropping, that initial wave was like hitting a goldmine. But here’s the first thing I realized: ads were just the ticket in. It paid for the cameras and maybe a flashy car early on, but it wasn’t the empire part.
Following the Hype: Merch & Brand Deals
Okay, next step. I looked at what they pushed hard almost immediately after blowing up. Merch! Team 10, Maverick, that whole scene. I tried digging into sales figures – impossible to get exact numbers, obviously. But the scale? Huge. Constant drops, limited editions, websites plastered everywhere. People were buying $40 hoodies like crazy. Then came the sponsorships and brand deals. Prime Energy Drink? That’s Jake Paul’s baby with KSI. You see it everywhere now! These aren’t one-off deals; they’re building actual brands under their names.
The Weird Stuff and Diversifying
This is where it got messy, just like researching anything online. Boxing! They turned themselves into legit (well, semi-legit) pay-per-view boxers. I watched their fights, saw the crazy buildup. People paid serious money for those streams! Music careers popped up too – catchy tunes or not, it’s another revenue stream and keeps them famous. Then Jake went hard into betting startups for a while, and Logan got into NFTs big time for a minute. Some of this stuff was confusing to track, honestly. Lots of ventures launched super loud, some faded fast or flopped, others stuck around longer. Shows they weren’t afraid to just try stuff, throwing ideas at the wall.
The Big Leagues: Licenses & Big Companies
But then it clicked. The real money move? Leveraging their massive names and audiences to build companies they didn’t have to run day-to-day. That energy drink (Prime) is owned by Congo Brands and Jake & KSI. Logan’s Maverick stuff is licensed out. They aren’t just influencers anymore; they’re becoming business owners licensing their brand or partnering on businesses where others handle a lot of the operations. That’s how you scale. Imagine getting a cut from every bottle of Prime sold globally? Cha-ching. Logan even bought a whole wrestling league (WWE, no… TNA? Wait, it’s a different one). Crazy!
The Controversy Factor & Final Thoughts
You can’t ignore it. Scandals, lawsuits, neighborhood annoyances… that stuff seems glued to their story. Did it hurt them? Sometimes. But honestly? Looking at the business side, it might have even helped keep people talking. Any publicity, right? It felt kinda gross researching some of their stunts, but you can’t deny the attention translated to eyes on their ventures.
So, wrapping my head around it all:
- Explode Online: Make absolutely massive YouTube/online audiences (the foundation).
- Monetize Fans Directly: Sell them merch, supplements, anything they’ll buy (quick, recurring cash).
- Hype & Events: Create spectacle fights, music drops, NFT projects (big, one-off paydays & buzz).
- Build & License Brands: Create tangible products/services people use daily, and scale them through licensing or partnerships where others do the heavy lifting (Prime Energy is the prime example!).
- Controversy = Buzz?: Keep people engaged, for better or worse.
It’s way more than just pranks on camera. It’s actually a pretty wild blueprint for turning internet fame into a diversified business empire by constantly jumping on new trends and leveraging the hell out of your name. They might start messy businesses sometimes, but the strategy of milking every possible angle? That’s the real lesson. Still wouldn’t buy most of their stuff though!
