Content creator MoistCr1TiKaL, also known as penguinz0, has revealed how much money he's made over the years on YouTube and Jerk off. Many people know that making video or live stream content can be a very lucrative job for a small percentage of creators, but the numbers are usually speculative. And while some personalities have hinted at the size of their bank accounts, like Twitch and Kick streamer Amouranth, few have ever been completely transparent.
MoistCr1TiKaL, born Charles Christopher White Jr., is one of the most popular and long-running characters on YouTube and Twitch. On October 9, he announced that he had shut down almost all monetization for his channels on both platforms, including super chats and donations. While he couldn't stop people from giving bits on Twitch, he set the minimum amount so high that it should deter most would-be donors. This decision was generally met with acceptance or praise, but a small minority, including other high-income content creators, criticized the move.
Penguinz0 splits his Twitch and YouTube income
Known to be straightforward and honest, MoistCr1TiKaL decided to defend his demonetization decision by revealing how much money he has earned as a content creator over the past two decades. In a YouTube video, he shared that since 2017, when he first started seriously live streaming on Twitch, he has earned over $5.5 million from ads and subscriptions. On YouTube, the figure is significantly higher. As penguinz0, he started his channel in 2007 and currently has over 17 million subscribers. In just under 20 years, he has earned almost 36 million dollars. MoistCr1TiKaL points out that these numbers do not include sponsorship deals or other monetization opportunities related to content creation, although he also donated his first four or five years of YouTube earnings to charity.
Because of these numbers, which MoistCr1TiKaL calls “an unfathomable amount of money,” he no longer feels comfortable accepting donations from people. His job, he says, is incredibly simple, and people should instead spend their hard-earned money on themselves or donate to charity. The overwhelming majority of a content creator's income comes from ads on Twitch and YouTube anyway, the streamer explains, and turning off monetization will cost him roughly $1 million a year, based on his earnings from memberships, SuperChats and gifts over the past year on YouTube.
As for other creators who may feel threatened or pressured by the decision, MoistCr1TiKaL emphasizes that he's not trying to make a statement or start a movement by shutting down monetization for his Twitch and YouTube channels. He just doesn't feel right personally taking money from hard working people who probably make significantly less money than him, and he doesn't try to influence anyone else to follow in his footsteps.
