MKBHD: Tech Reviewer, Media Company, Reputation Crisis
MKBHD has no verified net worth. Forbes ranked Marques Brownlee number 27 on its 2026 Top Creators list with estimated earnings of $10.9 million, while aggregator estimates of his net worth run from about $4 million to $150 million and cite no method. His business includes a staffed studio, the Waveform podcast and a Ridge partnership. His wallpaper app Panels shut down on December 31, 2025.
What is MKBHD's net worth?
MKBHD has no verified net worth, and no outlet has published one from accounts or filings. Forbes lists Brownlee at number 27 on its 2026 Top Creators list with $10.9 million in estimated earnings, as of June 23, 2026. His Forbes rank was number 17 in 2024 and 2025 and number 32 in 2023.
Earnings are one year of income, not accumulated wealth. The net worth figures below come from sites that either publish no method or publish assumptions that cannot be checked, so treat each as an estimate.
Source
Figure
Status
Forbes Top Creators 2026
$10.9 million earnings
One year of earnings, not net worth
Dexerto (2021)
$4 million to $12.5 million
Range across sources, no method
iBusiness News (Feb 2026)
$18 million to $20 million
Analyst estimate, no method
Networth Explained (Jul 2026)
$26.5 million
Modeled from channel data, assumptions published
Other aggregator sites
$50 million to $150 million
No method
How does MKBHD make money?
MKBHD makes money from YouTube advertising, brand sponsorships, a podcast, merchandise and a partnership with Ridge. Forbes reports that Brownlee is Ridge's chief creative partner and released a brand collection of chargers, suitcases and keychains with the company.
Dexerto reported in 2021 that the Waveform podcast earns through Spotify advertising and that Brownlee sells merchandise through Cotton Bureau and uses affiliate links. No outlet reviewed here publishes his channel revenue, sponsorship rates or costs, so this page names none. Calculator sites quote monthly YouTube income, but those are modeled figures and are left out.
How big is the MKBHD studio?
The MKBHD operation had 17 employees and more than 20 million subscribers in September 2025, according to a Think with Google interview as summarized by Cloudspress. HypeAuditor lists 21.4 million subscribers on the main channel in October 2026.
The Think with Google figure is the only staffing number traced to an interview with the company, and it is a secondary summary. Other sites cite larger headcounts without a source, so verify any employee count before repeating it.
Panels was a wallpaper app Brownlee launched in September 2024 and shut down on December 31, 2025. 9to5Mac reported the launch drew criticism for its roughly $50 a year price point and quality issues, and Brownlee announced the closure in a YouTube video on December 1, 2025.
TechCrunch, citing the app intelligence firm Appfigures, reported about 900,000 lifetime downloads and $95,000 in consumer spending across iOS and Android. Panels said its development team changed in early 2025 and that it could not find the right fit, and it planned to refund annual subscribers and open-source the code. Brownlee said his team made mistakes on its first app.
What can PR teams learn from MKBHD?
The Panels numbers show that a trusted reviewer's audience does not automatically become a product's audience. A channel with more than 20 million subscribers produced about 900,000 downloads and $95,000 in spending, per Appfigures, and the app closed within about 15 months.
For communications teams pitching creator-led products, the practical checks are to price against free alternatives, to publish what the product collects from users, and to treat a reviewer's credibility as the asset to protect. See how other creator-operators built products on trust in the profiles of Doug DeMuro and Mark Rober, and read crisis communications for how product failures become reputation stories.
Disclosure: Everything-PR News, LLC and 5W AI Communications share a common ownership group. Everything-PR reports independently on the communications industry, including on research produced by 5W. Editorial decisions are made by Everything-PR's editorial team.
No verified net worth exists for MKBHD. Forbes put Marques Brownlee's 2026 earnings at $10.9 million, and published net worth estimates range from about $4 million to $150 million with no method.
How much did Forbes say MKBHD earned?
Forbes listed Marques Brownlee at number 27 on its 2026 Top Creators list with $10.9 million in estimated earnings, as of June 23, 2026.
How many subscribers does MKBHD have?
MKBHD has about 21.4 million YouTube subscribers as of October 2026, according to HypeAuditor. TechCrunch reported more than 20 million in December 2025.
What happened to the Panels app?
Panels shut down on December 31, 2025, about 15 months after its September 2024 launch. Appfigures counted about 900,000 lifetime downloads and $95,000 in consumer spending, per TechCrunch.
What is MKBHD's real name?
MKBHD is Marques Keith Brownlee, who has run his YouTube channel since 2008.
Written by
Ronn Torossian
Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of 5W AI Communications, which he launched in 2003. The firm combines public relations, digital marketing, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI-visibility research for B2C and B2B clients in beauty, technology, entertainment, corporate reputation and crisis communications. 5W is an Inc. 500 company, was named Agency of the Year at the American Business Awards and is recognized as a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's.
