Originally appeared on E! Online
Money doesn’t grow on trees — but it does come from likes.
This year, #RichTok exploded on social media with content creators like Becca Bloom documenting their caviar-coated and Van Cleef-adorned lifestyles for all to see online.
Back in September, makeup influencer Mikayla Nogueira showed off her massive designer shopping haul, saying on TikTok she “completely blacked out” while buying dozens of luxury items — including bags, heels, sneakers, jewelry and clothing from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Miu Miu and more — totaling an estimated $186,000.
And when beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill recently asked why her videos weren’t getting the same engagement as usual, her followers were brutally honest: It’s about the money, honey.
“We’re tired of watching influencers rub their wealth in our faces,” one person commented on her Dec. 4 video, while another noted, “I can’t connect to a $10,000 purse or shoe haul when $10,000 would pay off all my loans and change my life.”
PHOTOS OnlyFans Stars Reveal How Much Money They Make
So, how much are social media stars actually making to be able to afford these luxe lifestyles? It can indeed be lucrative for the biggest creators, who often start their own companies, like Mikayla’s Point of View Beauty or Jaclyn’s eponymous cosmetics line.
Jeffree Star, who started his self-named makeup brand in 2014, now earns $50,000 when he hosts a TikTok live, raking in the dough by both selling his products and getting monetary gifts from fans watching on their phones.
“I’ll make bacon in the morning and make $50,000,” Star told the Cancelled podcast last year. “There’s some times where I don’t sell at all, and I’ll just make bacon in my kitchen, in my bathrobe, in my little slippers, we’ll just hang out and I’ll just chat and I’ll do a Q&A.”
Other personalities get paid major bucks from sponsored posts, with Alix Earle charging $450,000 per Instagram Story, as revealed in April by marketing agency cofounder Vickie Segar — whose firm Article 41 has worked with Earle on brand deals — during a talk at the University of North Carolina, per The New York Times.
Another way to make bank? Stripping down on OnlyFans, the adult subscription platform where Lily Phillips —who went viral last year for sleeping with 101 men in one day — told E! News she has made “millions” posting NSFW content. Likewise, OnlyFans creator Sophie Rain said she made more than $43 million in just one year on the site.
But outside of launching companies, scoring big brand deals or posting nude content, you may be surprised how little some of the more up-and-coming influencers really make on social media.
TikTok “tradwife” influencer Nara Smith and her husband Lucky Blue are sharing some of the “unspoken rules” in their marriage.
