Darren Watkins, popularly known as “IShowSpeed,” is an American YouTuber. The YouTuber gained immense popularity during the COVID-19 period. IShowSpeed introduced himself as a gamer on YouTube and quickly gained popularity as a streamer on YouTube. Furthermore, he also won the Streamy Award for Breakout Streamer in late 2022.
Initially, Speed started his journey as a live streamer. The YouTuber played games like Fortnite, NBA 2K. However, he could only gather a handful of viewers with his streams. Thus, he decided to take a break from his streaming career and focus more on his education.
IShowSpeed eventually returned to YouTube during the pandemic. His primary focus was playing NBA 2K games, as there was not much quality content in those games. He grew his community quite quickly during the pandemic.
By 2021, the YouTuber had more than 100,000 subscribers. Speed gained popularity for his frequent meltdowns on live streams. Oftentimes, the streamer was seen making derogatory remarks about his opponents. This led to a few bans from the online streaming platform Twitch.
The YouTuber has hit the milestone of 10 million subscribers on YouTube in 2022. He gained extreme exposure, which helped him become one of the fastest YouTubers to ever reach the 10 million milestone. According to reports, the estimated net worth of the YouTuber is currently more than $5 million.
How did IShowSpeed get famous?
Speed has been one of the most controversial YouTubers ever since he started making videos. The YouTube star is famous for his “hot-headed” personality and antics. However, even with his controversial antics, IShowSpeed has managed to gain 11 million subscribers on YouTube.
Speed became famous for his meltdowns while streaming. The YouTuber has gotten into trouble quite a few times due to his actions. However, it is because of these actions that the YouTuber has gained popularity.
The YouTuber also helped “Talking Ben the Dog, “become of of the best-selling apps on Play Store. He often used to stream the mobile game, thus helping it gain popularity. He is also famous for being a huge fan of soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. Speed has stated on multiple occasions that Ronaldo is his soccer idol. He is also an avid Lionel Messi hater.
Internet celebrity IShowSpeed’s salary
Speed makes the majority of his earnings from his YouTube channel. However, apart from that, he makes a decent amount from the sponsorship deals and the tips given to him during the live stream.
The YouTuber has stated that he earns around $75–$200 per upload, depending on the duration of the live stream. According to Social Blade, Speed earns an estimated $16,000 via AdSense.
I’m crying why are there ads with IShowSpeed now pic.twitter.com/cgb6K0UfHT
— EpicBen10Facts🎲 (@EpicBen10Facts) November 6, 2022
Speed earns more than $15,000 on TikTok. However, unlike YouTube, TikTok has yet to compensate its users for ads on their posted photos or videos. Some sources report that the YouTuber earns around $2–4 million each year through YouTube. Furthermore, his YouTube account is estimated to generate more than $20,000 a month, and around $1–3 million per year in ad revenue.