David Dobrik is a Slovak-born Internet personality and social media mogul who has a net worth of $25 million
He rose to stardom following his success and popularity on the defunct video-sharing platform, Vine, and then on YouTube. His career as an internet personality is the major source of his wealth. The Slovak YouTuber admired for his incredible sense of humor has millions of dedicated followers across his social media pages.
The popularity he gained online paved the way for him to get involved in other pursuits outside of the internet and, his efforts have been rewarded with some of the most coveted awards in the business.
In 2017, he won the YouTube Streamy Award for Breakout Creator, and the same year, he received the Shortys Vlogger of the Year award. He won both awards again the following year in categories like YouTube Ensemble, Best Podcast, and Ensemble Cast. David’s career has also been rewarded with awards like Kids’ Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and People’s Choice Awards.
Sometime in November 2020, People magazine named him the Sexiest YouTube Star of the year. The next month, he made Forbes’ list of 30 Under 30. The American business magazine also named the Slovak YouTuber among the highest-paid YouTube stars of 2020. But as you would soon learn, he might never get to make that list again in years to come.
He Once Made As Much As $3.3 Million Yearly From YouTube Ads
Born on July 23, 1996, Dobrik always knew he had a knack for comedy right from childhood. As a result, he dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and moved to Los Angeles with the intent of pursuing a career as a social media personality. His voyage towards achieving online stardom began on April 3, 2013, when he posted his first Vine video. The video didn’t reach the targeted audience as expected but that didn’t deter Dobrik as he continued to work hard.
In a bid to attract a massive number of views on the platform, Dobrik collaborated with popular Vine stars like Brandon Calvillo and Gabbie Hanna which contributed to the growth of his career. At the event of Vine’s shutdown in 2017, Dobrik had accumulated a total of 1.3 million fans on the platform. Thankfully, he had started sharing his content on YouTube before Vine packed up, so he retained most, if not all of his fans.
In 2014, Dobrik was a member of the popular YouTube group, Second Class. The group took the internet by storm, thanks to its loads of talents and funny content which in turn made Dobrik even more famous. Sadly, the group came to an end in 2015, thus, inspiring Dobrik to set up his own YouTube channel which he called David Dobrik. After his first eponymous channel was created in December 2014, David created other channels: David Dobrik Too created in August 2016, and Views that came to existence in September 2018.
At the peak of his YouTube career, in terms of earnings, David made as much as $275,000 every month from his YouTube videos. According to him, it felt like he was a drug dealer but his earnings recently nose-dived to under $2,000, even though he brings in thrice as many views when he was making $275,000.
What Made David Dobrik a Unique YouTuber and Why His Earnings Dipped to $2,000
Dobrik’s meteoric rise to fame and opulence can be attributed to the success of his YouTube channels. Upon the start of his first, self-titled YouTube channel in 2015, Dobrik began posting comedic videos three times a week. The videos were centered around real-life situations. Although some of his videos were scripted, he tried to make it subtle so as not to ruin the whole realism behind it.
Soon, he began to make great strides in the industry following his surreal prank videos and the inclusion of celebrities in his videos, which in turn brought him a great fortune as he amassed a huge number of subscribers. By 2018, he was already one of the most successful YouTubers on the platform. This was the year PAPER magazine named him among the “Social Media Personalities Making the Most Noise”. What all of this meant financially was that he was pocketing nearly $275,000 every month and $3.3 million per year. Sometime around 2017, that amount dropped to $2,000 per month and only $24,000 a year.
This is a massive drop in income and it was caused by what is known as the YouTube Adpocalypse. It happened that advertisers threatened to pull out of YouTube and the platform took it out on channels with content that are not family-friendly. These channels were denied paid advertisements in their videos and David Dobrik happens to be one of the people affected. He was pulling 60 million views a month when he made around $275,000 per month. With the Adpocalypse which affected his earnings, he pulls 200 million views but gets a paycheck under $2,000. Thankfully, he had diversified and had other sources of income to rely on.
Other Sources Through Which The YouTuber Accumulated His $25 Million Net Worth
After the YouTuber disclosed that his YouTube earnings went from $275,000 to only $2,000 per month, people embraced the notion that his career was on a decline and began spreading it; this is not true. In fact, his career had been on a rise during the adpocalypse as he was recording a higher number of views. The only decline he is currently witnessing is in his earnings. Dobrik was affected by the adpocalypse because of the kind of content he produces, most of which are perceived as not family-friendly. If anything, that setback only served as a wake-up call for the YouTuber to focus on building his other sources of income.
He Is One of The First Recipients of The $1 Billion TikTok Creator Fund
While David Dobrik now makes around $24,000 yearly from YouTube ad revenues, Forbes named him among the highest-paid YouTube stars of 2020, estimating he earned $15.5 million in the year under review. This is possible because David doesn’t rely only on what he makes from ad revenues (AdSense). As a first-rate YouTuber, it is only natural that he has explored other ways through which a YouTuber can make money: from channel memberships to merch shelf, YouTube premium, super chat & super sticker, affiliate marketing, brand ads, and sponsorship.
In addition to that, David has taken his vlogging business to other video-sharing social networking platforms like TikTok and it has been financially rewarding for him. As it is with YouTube, TikTokers make money through means like influencer marketing, branded merchandise, sponsored content posts, and what have you. With over 26 million followers on the platform, David Dobrik has definitely explored all of these money-making options on TikTok. More so, he is one of the first recipients of the $1 billion TikTok Creator Fund. This is an initiative put in place by the platform to support creators through earnings, as a way of rewarding their efforts in entertaining the TikTok community.
David Dobrik Has Made Millions From Corporate Sponsorships
As of April 2021, David has 26 million followers on TikTok, 28.680 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, 13.8 million followers on Instagram, and 5.6 million on Twitter. Those numbers mean he is very influential; through him, one can reach a massive number of people in a go and popular brands understand this.
The Slovak YouTuber has partnered with popular brands like EA, Bumble, and SeatGeek to promote what they have to offer. In 2019 and 2020, he participated in several ad campaigns for Chipotle, a chain of fast, casual restaurants in popular countries like France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and of course the United States. When the company celebrated National Burrito Day in April 2019, David’s Chipotle order was used as the official burrito for the day.
He has also worked with Chipotle on other promotional campaigns like its TikTok Lid Flip Challenge of May 2019 and ChipotleSponsorMe Challenge of April 2020. His collaboration with Chipotle won him Streamys’ Brand Engagement Award in September 2019. Apart from Chipotle, other prominent endorsement partners he has worked with include DoorDash, HelloFresh, General Mills, EA Sports, and SeatGeek. What he made from working with these popular brands may not be known to the public but there is no doubt it has contributed a significant amount to his massive fortune.
Paychecks From Acting and Hosting Popular Events and Shows
David Dobrik’s exploit goes beyond internet entertainment. He has been able to penetrate the mainstream entertainment industry and has made a living thereof hosting popular events and shows. Notably, he was one of the judges on America’s Most Musical Family, a reality music competition show that aired on Nickelodeon from November 2019 to January 2020.
Also on Nickelodeon, sometime in May 2020, he hosted The Stars of SpongeBob Fan Favorite Special. Thereafter, it emerged in August of the same year that he would be hosting Discovery Channel’s Dodgeball Thunderdome, a reality competition series. Earlier in August 2019, he co-hosted the Teen Choice Awards alongside Lucy Hale. This was the year he featured as a guest judge on Chopped Junior, a reality-based cooking game show series.
All of these hosting gigs surely added a significant sum to David Dobrik’s net worth just as the few acting roles he has pulled off. Dobrik has made numerous television appearances since he stormed the limelight with his entertaining videos. More than that, he has embraced acting and has been seen in several music videos of artists like Scotty Sire, Dom Zeglaitis, Trisha Paytas, and Juice WRLD. Beyond music videos, he has been seen in a few popular, small and big-screen projects. The YouTuber voiced Axel in The Angry Birds Movie 2, a 2019 computer-animated comedy film. You will also find him in Airplane Mode (2019), FML (2016), and a few more.
He Owns a Clothing Line Called Clickbait and Co-founded Dispo
For a social media personality of his caliber, with millions of followers on several social media platforms, it would have been foolish if David Dobrik hasn’t capitalized on his popularity to sell a range of merch. The YouTuber has a clothing line known as Clickbait and it has become quite a cash cow for him. From hoodies to tees, shirts, shorts, pants, hats, and crop tank tops, the clothing line has a wide range of offerings that extends to phone case covers, mugs, notebooks, and stickers.
In view of his exploits as a social media personality, it comes as no surprise that David Dobrik has his own social networking app. Alongside Natalie Mariduena, the Slovak YouTuber created an app called Dispo. Initially known as David’s Disposable, the photo-sharing and social networking app launched on IOS in December 2019 and relaunched in March 2021. The previous month, it was reported that the app pulled $20 million in its first venture capital financing. Reports have it that the app was valued at $200 million before its March 2021 relaunch.
All The Sources of His $25 Million Net Worth
- Income from YouTube
- Earnings from TikTok
- Endorsement deals and corporate sponsorships
- Paychecks from acting and hosting gigs
- Revenue realized from merch sales
- Earnings from serving in Dispo’s board of director
A Look At How David Dobrik’s Net Worth Has Grown Over Time
Although Dobrik might be far from being the richest YouTuber in the world, that doesn’t mean he isn’t worth a huge sum of money. As of this article’s last review, the famous YouTuber is believed to have an estimated net worth of $25 million. Compared to Jeffree Star who has a net worth of $200 million and has been named the richest YouTuber on several quarters, David has a long way to go, but he is often counted among the top 20 most successful and richest YouTubers.
The Slovak YouTuber has come a long way from the days he only depended on ad revenues from his video as his source of income. As detailed above, he diversified his endeavors and it rewarded him in no small manner. Below is a look at how his net worth grew over the years.
- 2015 – $500,000
- 2016 – $1.2 Million
- 2017 – $2.5 Million
- 2018 – $5 Million
- 2019 – $7 Million
- 2020 – $15 Million
- 2021 – $20 Million
- 2022 – $25 Million
Based on the foregoing, one would be moved to conclude that the YouTuber would become wealthier than he is in years to come. Nonetheless, that might not be the case as David Dobrik’s earning power suffered a devastating misfortune in 2021. He has lost many of his fans and almost all of his sponsorship: companies like Dollar Shave Club, EA Sports, HelloFresh, General Mills, DoorDash, and SeatGeek have all parted ways with him and that’s not all.
In March 2021, it was reported that YouTube temporarily demonetized his channels; this means he has gone from making $275,000 a month from YouTube ads to making $2,000 and now nothing. Even the app he co-created, Dispo, which was considered in some quarters as his biggest cash cow in the future, was affected. The app was review-bombed on the App store and lost some of its investors.
The venture capital firm, Spark Capital, led the capital financing of the app which saw Dispo generate $20 million earlier in 2021. By March, the firm announced that it would sever all ties with Dispo. This is also the case with Seven Seven Six, another firm working with Dispo. Ultimately, David Dobrik had to step down from the board of directors of the company.
What You Should Know About The Controversies Threatening His Livelihood
Several controversial events have left many eager to cancel David Dobrik but it mainly revolves around allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying. The particular case that has dominated the agitation to have the Slovak vlogger canceled is the sexual assault allegations involving a woman who claims she was raped when she featured in a video for the David Dobrik channel.
One of the things that distinguished David Dobrik as a YouTuber was The Vlog Squad, a popular YouTube ensemble he leads. The group made up of his friends frequently featured in many of his vlogs. In one of the vlogs filmed in 2018, a woman featured in the video about group sex was allegedly raped. According to the woman who was a part of the video titled She Should Not Have Played With Fire!!, she was raped by Dom Zeglaitis, a Vlog Squad member. It is suggested that David manipulated the woman into getting drunk and she subsequently had sex with Dom. The woman has maintained that she was not in a state of mind to consent on coitus with Dom as portrayed in the video.
Former members of the Vlog Squad and other YouTubers he has collaborated with have also called out the Slovak vlogger. For instance, Seth Francois, who was once a member of the Vlog Squad accused David Dobrik of sexual assault. Seth was blindfolded and deceived to kiss Jason Nash whom he thought was Corinna Kopf, an Instagram model famed as Pouty Girl. This was captured in a video titled He Thought He Was Kissing Her!! (Super Cringey) which David has now deleted. Similarly, Trisha Paytas, a former member of Vlog Squad and ex-girlfriend of David’s friend Jason Nash, has some disturbing allegations against Dobrik. She claims David nudged Nash to break up with her and once film her naked without her consent while she had sex with Jason. It was meant to be a prank and Nash was aware that David was secretly filming them. Paytas asked David to not post the video titled I Snuck Into Their Hotel Room (Surprise), but he did.
Another former member of the group, BigNik (Nik Keswani), accused David Dobrik of bullying. According to Nik who has a rare form of dwarfism that left him blind in his left eyes, he was constantly mocked while he was a member of Volg Squad. This affected his mental health so much that he was left with no option but to quit the group. Dobrik has also been accused of exploiting people. There is the case of a man named Karim who suggested the name Dispo for David Dobrik’s app. Karim did this when he applied to be a designer for the app and David remarked that he liked the name which eventually became the name of the app. Karim says the YouTuber decided not to hire him despite using the name he suggested.
A Tour Through David Dobrik’s Multi-Million Mansion
- Location: Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, Calif.
- Price: $9.5 Million
- Size: 7,800 Square Feet, 6 Bedrooms, and 7 Bathrooms
- Notable Features: Infinity-edged Swimming Pool and Inset Spa, Outdoor Kitchen with BBQ Center, Lounge Area, e.t.c
The wealth the Slovak YouTuber has made from his career over the years affords him to audacity to acquire things many can only dream of. He owns a few fancy cars, including a Ferrari and a 2020 Aston Martin DB11 valued at $200k. David has also given out a couple of cars to his fans and family members. His family is known to hail from Kosice, Slovakia, and only moved to the USA when Dobrik was six years old. He has three siblings named Esther, Sarah, and Toby. Any true fan of Dobrik would know just how strongly he cares about his family. This he makes evident by including them in several of his videos and going all out in spending his money on them.
The most expensive thing he has spent his money on, to the best of our knowledge, is the multi-million dollar mansion he acquired in August 2020. This isn’t his first home as he owns a 2,700-square-foot, four-bedroom home in Studio City, Los Angeles, which he purchased for $2.5 million in 2017. Apparently looking for what’s more befitting to his status, the YouTuber parted with $9.5 million to own his new mansion located in Los Angeles’ Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood known as the home of families willing to go all out for suburban comforts.
In a living space of 7,800 square feet, the mansion has seven bathrooms, six bedrooms, and the luxury amenities one would expect to find in a property initially asking for $12 million. There’s no point detailing the amenities in the mansion, see for yourself in the video below.
Key Take-Aways
- David Dobrik has a net worth of $25 million which he acquired through various means.
- He once made as much as $3.3 million yearly from YouTube ads.
- His channels were affected by YouTube Adpocalypse around 2017 and his earnings nose-dived to $24,000 yearly.
- The YouTuber owns two houses in Los Angeles with a combined worth of $12 million
- David Dobrik’s earning power has been destroyed by the sexual misconduct and bullying allegations hanging around his neck.