Jake Paul earned $40 million in the ring after switching from YouTube to boxing. Jake Paul made a few people laugh in August 2021 when he likened himself to Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather before his fourth fight. Even if his fists never match his rhetoric, the outspoken YouTuber-turned-boxer may nevertheless get the final laugh: his paychecks already place him among the sport’s top stars.
According to Forbes, Paul earned a total of $40 million before taxes from his three boxing victories in 2021, bringing his overall record to 5-0. Paul comes in at No. 2 on the list of the highest-paid YouTube stars for 2021, with an extra $5 million from his various activities, including his videos, returning to the list for the first time since 2018.
With a total of $45 million, he would have ranked No. 20 on Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid sportsmen, ahead of the only other boxer to make the top 50, Canelo Alvarez, who tied for 48th place with $34 million. It would also have put him ahead of well-known athletes like Phil Mickelson ($41 million) and Novak Djokovic ($34.5 million).
Paul, who turns 25 next week, has made quite a comeback.
After a criticism to a video his elder brother Logan made in a “suicide forest” in Japan, YouTube demonetized his channel in early 2018. Paul was distraught when he stopped receiving money from the advertising that played on his videos and when businesses abandoned him.
Although the channel is earning ad money again and has grown to 20.4 million subscribers, he continues to seek controversy. In August 2020, the FBI searched his house after video showed him looting a mall (he was not charged), and he dubbed Covid-19 a “hoax” in a November 2020 interview with the Daily Beast, among numerous provocative statements throughout the years. Most recently, in April, he was accused of sexual assault by TikTok celebrity Justine Paradise; Paul has categorically rejected the charge.
