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    Forbes has released its Top Creators list for 2026, and for the first time in the ranking’s history, the combined earnings of all 50 creators have surpassed $1 billion. Together, they earned $1.02 billion, up 20 percent from $853 million the previous year. The top 10 alone generated more than $621 million in a single year.

    The ranking comes with an important caveat: Forbes’ ranking is based strictly on creator earnings from March 2025 to March 2026, excluding company valuations, investment portfolios, and overall net worth.

    Three Black creators were among the top 10 on Forbes’ 2026 Top Creators list, highlighting the growing influence and earning power of Black talent in the creator economy.

    Related Post: Black Influencers Shine in Forbes Top Creators 2025 List

    Steven Bartlett

    Steven Bartlett comes in at number three with $52 million in earnings and 38.7 million followers across platforms. In The Diary of a CEO, the interview shows he started at his kitchen table and now anchors a holding company called Steven.com, valued at $425 million, with a media arm that spans podcasts, book deals, live events, and an investment division. 

    Bartlett holds partnerships with Spotify, LinkedIn, and Adobe, recently invested in AI coding platforms Replit and Lovable, and returned for a sixth season of the BBC investment show Dragons’ Den. Forbes has previously recognized him on its 30 Under 30 Europe list and its Top Creators list.

    Drew Desbordes (Druski)

    Sketch comic Druski lands at number seven with $20 million in earnings and 38.5 million followers. What makes his ranking notable is his engagement rate of 13.77 percent, a figure that dwarfs most creators on the list and signals an audience that is genuinely paying attention. 

    Related Post: 10 Black Streamers Powering the Creator Economy — and Building Real Wealth

    Born Drew Desbordes, Druski has expanded well beyond social media, starring in national commercials for T-Mobile and Dunkin’ and hosting the BET Awards this June. His recent collaborations stretch from Kevin Hart to Timothée Chalamet, Jeff Bridges, and Zoe Saldana.

    IShowSpeed

    IShowSpeed rounds out the Black creators on the list at number eight with $30 million in earnings and the largest following of the three at 184 million across platforms. His path to that audience was anything but direct. He launched a YouTube channel in 2016 to post gaming videos and spent years slowly building. 

    IshowSpeed

    Youtube Streamer (IShowSpeed) during his South East Asian tour on 24th Sept 2024. (Creative Commons license)

    The breakthrough came when TikTok clips of his unfiltered gaming reactions went viral, and he used that momentum to pivot to football content, collaborating with Cristiano Ronaldo and launching travel series such as Speed Does America and Speed Does Africa. Brand deals with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Beats by Dre, and Doritos followed. This summer, with the World Cup landing on American soil, he launched his World Cup 2026 Tour in partnership with FIFA.

    Related Post: Meet IShowSpeed, the 21-Year-Old Streamer Building a Global Livestream Machine

    Together, the three represent $102 million in content earnings in a single year, drawn from audiences across gaming, comedy, business, and sport. The billion-dollar milestone the list crossed this year suggests that number will only grow.

    Check out the full list here.

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    The post Forbes’ 2026 Top Creators Surpass $1 Billion, With Three Black Creators in the Top 10 appeared first on UrbanGeekz.

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