How Much Money Does KSI Make?

KSI, full name Olajide William Olatunji or JJ Olatunji for short, is a British YouTube star, comedian, actor, rapper, and amateur boxer. His online career has been very lucrative over the years, with his estimated net worth at around $20 million.

He was born on June 19, 1993 in London. After becoming famous on his YouTube channel, which has over 22 million subscribers and 6 billion views across his videos, he also became famous for his music. 

This article will answer the big question: How much money does KSI make?

KSI released his debut epic Keep Up in 2016, thus reaching the top of the British R&B Albums chart. Also, in the list of YouTube channels with the most subscribers, he was in 50th place. His nickname KSI comes from the name of his channel – KSIOlajideBT.

But perhaps the thing he’s most famous for today (and the biggest source of income) was his amateur boxing fights with the fellow YouTuber Logan Paul. 

Impressions from the match between KSI and Logan Paul are still being retold, and a debate is circulating on the internet as to which of them really deserved to win the first bout, though the second he won through split decision. 

One thing is for sure, fans believe that the first match should not have ended in a draw. However, even with this end, KSI returned home from both boutssignificantly richer.

But how much does this versatile man earn?

Taking into consideration all of his talents and revenue based on them, it is estimated that KSI has a net worth of about 20 million dollars! And being a YouTuber, musician, actor, and boxer, it is no wonder why!

Interestingly, only the boxing event number 2 against Logan Paul has generated about 9 million dollars. 

Namely, according to foreign media, the agreement between KSI and the Paul brothers was that he would collect all the earnings from ticket collection because the match took place in his country and that Logan would receive the earnings the next time they fought in America. 

This means that the famous YouTuber earned as much as 8.8 million euro (or 9 million dollars) just from ticket sales and the payment of the official stream on YouTube!

Income Streams

KSI isn’t one to stay in his lane, since he after becoming successful on YouTube he was quick to branch out and try his hand at just about everything else in the entertainment industry.

The star has given boxing a go, released a book, and even starred in a film.

Yet these days it’s his music career that he seems to devote most of his time, too, and many rate his singing talent.

YouTube Career

KSI made his channel active on July 24, 2009, with his very first video showing him playing FIFA, the popular football video game franchise.

According to his website, YouTubers like Weepeler and Hjerpseth inspired him to start his career on YouTube. His main channel was originally focused on the Football Association and FIFA, although he also played other games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 and other PSI modifications, on his second channel.

His second channel contains clips in which KSI plays simpler historical and horror games, in a similar way to his YouTube colleague PewDiePie. 

In February 2013, KSI appeared in the video “KSI vs. FIFE-D Record Slam”, made by GWRomg. In it, YouTuber beats the previous world record in the number of goals scored against the computer, which amounted to 110 goals, and KSI scored 190.

On that occasion, his name appeared in the Guinness Book of Records – Gamer Edition, 2013. In October of the same year, KSI signed a contract with the subsidiary of Marker Studios music house, Polaris.

More YouTube Success

On October 19, he and four other YouTubers formed a group called Ultimate Sideman (the name was later abbreviated only to Sideman), which consisted of him, Ethan Payne, Simon Minter, Josh Bradley, and Toby Brown. 

The group also decided to add a sixth member, Vikram Barn, better known as Vikkstar123. A month later, they were joined by a seventh member, Harry Lewis, in 2014.

After defeating Zach Zeldin, co-founder of Virginia Gaming, in a FIFA match, KSI visited Las Vegas, where he discussed the establishment of a YouTube project in which subscriptions to channels would be charged.

In early 2017, KSI stopped posting clips on its YouTube channel. Later, in July of the same year, he published a video in which he explains that he is dissatisfied with the direction in which YouTube is moving. On August 4, 2017, KSI announced on Twitter that it was leaving the Sideman group, mostly due to a conflict with a colleague and member of the group, Ethan Payne. 

Shortly afterward, he released several video songs in which he called out the members of the group, criticizing them, to which most of the members responded with their songs.

However, the following month, KSI returned to Sideman. Because of that, many accused them of faking an argument in the group, to get reviews, since KSI and other members got a large number of subscribers, and thus money on YouTube, mostly because of the songs directed against each other. 

The most prominent was YouTuber Joe Weller, who published his song criticizing KSI and Sideman for falsifying “Sideman of War.”

Shortly afterward, they announced that at the annual event dedicated to content creators, called Upload (which was partly funded by KSI and other members of the group), there would be a boxing match, on February 3, 2018, at the Koper Boxing Arena in London.

During the announcement, the two YouTubers clashed verbally and physically, KSI mocking Veler’s problems with depression.

 Both posted videos after that and KSI apologized for his behavior. In November 2017, KSI released a video explaining whether his quarrel with Sideman was real or false, commenting: “The drama was neither completely real nor completely false.”

Music Career

In 2011, KSI expanded its career to music, mostly as a rapper. Together with his YouTube colleague Randolph, he published “Heskey Time”, a rap song about football player Emile Heskey. The song was released on iTunes before Christmas 2011. The music video shows how Heskey misses many opportunities in FIFA. 

Thanks to the success of the song, KSI started a series on its channel, called “Football Rap Battles”, in which he and Ralph play famous figures from the world of football. Although it began as a series of rap songs including footballers Mario Balotelli and manager Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the videos shows KSI playing himself, against Robin van Persie. 

In the video, the rapper mocks Van Persie because he moved from Arsenal to his rival, Manchester United.

He directed and appeared in his video for the song “Get Hyper”, and collaborated with the British rapper Sway, publishing two songs for the singer from London.

KSI released their first single as a solo artist, on March 23, 2015. The single is called “Lamborghini”, and it features rapper P Money.

On October 29, 2015, KSI announced the release of its first epic Keep Up. It was released on January 8, 2016, under Island Records. The epic title song, on which he collaborated with Jamie (Jme), was released on November 13 of the same year, and the music video was released two days later.

On July 29, 2016, KSI released “Friends with Benefits”, on which they are working with the Dutch music group Emendie. The song was released as a single for his second epic called Jump Around, which was released on October 28th.

KSI independently released its third epic Space, on June 30, 2017, and three months later it released its fourth, called Distribution. It will be his second epic to reach the British R&B Albums chart.

Amateur Boxing

On February 3, 2018, KSI ended his first amateur boxing match against YouTube colleague, Joe Weller. 

The match took place at the Koper Boxing Arena in Hackney Wick, London. KSI won in the 1st minute of the third round thanks to a technical knockout..

On YouTube, the fight attracted more than 1.6 million live viewers, 21 million during the first day of its announcement, and 25 million in the next few days, thus becoming the largest amateur boxing match in its history. KSI was awarded YouTube’s Boxing Championship Belt.

Casey later expressed respect for Weller because he was much more dangerous and tough than he expected, and praised him for being committed to raising awareness about mental health issues. 

He then caused the American internet sensation of Logan Paul and his brother Jake Paul to a fight. He also added the former football player Rio Ferdinand.

On February 24, 2018, the Paul brothers announced that they would fight KSI and his younger brother Deji, better known as ComedyShortsGamer) in a boxing match. 

The match was divided based on their age, so two older brothers and two younger ones competed against each other. KSI’s vs Logan Paul 1 ended as a majority draw, but KSI won the rematch by split decision.

The fight was rated as the biggest event in YouTube history because people had the opportunity to pay the entrance fee, where they could watch the match live. The fight was also declared the biggest amateur boxing fight in history. It is estimated that they earned more than 10 million dollars based on sold tickets and inspections.

The huge amateur boxing event between YouTubers has now been overshadowed though. Logan Paul’s recent bout with all-time boxing great Floyd Mayweather had the world watching, and Paul put up a great fight surviving for eight rounds with just a few amateur fights under his belt. 

Now there are m,any people thinking that if Paul lasted eight rounds with one of the greatest boxers ever, then KSI must have some serious boxing talent.

Other

On March 16, 2015, KSI announced on its YouTube channel that it would publish a book called “KSI: I Am a Bellend”. In the words of the publisher, it is described as an “attack on the Internet world”, since the book contains history and controversies from YouTube. 

It was published on September 24, 2015, in Great Britain, and five days later in America. KSI also went on tour to promote the book, which began on September 24 and ended on October 4, 2015.

The book has an alternate title ‘I am a tool’, presumably as a less offensive option for book stores to stock, and the subtitle is ‘how to be a YouTube Kingpin and Dominate the Internet’.

In June 2015, it was announced that KSI, along with YouTuber Caspar Lee, would star in a film called “Laid in America.” 

It came out on September 26 of the following year and contains other people from the YouTube world, including his brother Deji, Timothy DeLaGhetto, and Josh Leyva.

Controversy

The biggest controversies surrounding the hugely popular YouTube star though have been around comments he has made throughout his time as a content creator.

As you might imagine, when you play a video game competitively online against other players, the atmosphere can turn sour quickly.

The anonymity of playing online can lead to incendiary comments and unnecessary insults.

Shooting to stardom at such a young age can be a shock to the system, and while KSI has largely avoided getting embroiled in controversy, there are some instances from his past that he surely won’t be proud of.

For example, KSI put his foot in his mouth on several occasions in this way, once referring to his ‘rape-face’ and also facing much more serious allegations of sexual harassment at a Eurogamer event in 2012.

The scandal began with his departure to the Xbox Van opening party, in London. Due to the alleged sexual harassment of the guests present at the event, Microsoft cut off all communication with the player and banned him from the Eurogamer Expo for the rest of his life.

Frequently Asked Questions about KSI

Is KSI a billionaire?

While KSI isn’t a billionaire in the conventional sense, the YouTuber has managed to accumulate billions of views through the content he has put out on his channel over the years.

Making money on YouTube can be complicated, since income generated is based on ads watched, and it’s estimated that just 40-80% of views actually count towards this ad-based revenue.

As such, billions of views doesn’t equate to billions of dollars, but still, KSI has accumulated a substantial fortune from YouTube.

What does KSI stand for?

KSI stands for ‘Knowledge, Strength, and Integrity’.

This is the ethos that the YouTuber strives to live by, and he even has tattoos of all three words on his body.

How much did KSI get for fighting Logan Paul?

Sources claim that KSI and Logan Paul both made the same amount of money from their latest boxing bout.

Both YouTubers reportedly made $900,000 from the second boxing match between the two, though some believe their earnings from the event were significant more than this figure.

A Final Word From Run Gun Shoot

KSI is a YouTuber primarily known for video game content, but over the years he branched out, making a name for himself as a musician and as an amateur boxer scoring a victory over Logan Paul.

P.S. Like this? You might also enjoy our other articles from the same series:

• How Much Money Does MrBeast Make?
• How Much Money Does Jenna Marbles Make?
• How Much Money Does David Dobrik Make?
• How Much Money Does Sssniperwolf Make?
• How Much Money Does Peter McKinnon Make?
• How Much Money Does Nelk Make?