Hey friend! You may be wondering exactly how Liver King, aka Brian Johnson, rakes in the big bucks from social media fame. Let me walk you through the main sources fueling his fortune.
The primal internet sensation generates income through a diverse portfolio including YouTube, sponsorships, affiliates, merchandise, memberships, events, and his supplement company Ancestral Supplements. While his total net worth remains elusive, reasonable estimates place it between $10 million and $100 million.
Breaking Down Liver King‘s Income Sources
Here‘s a quick rundown of Liver King‘s revenue streams:
- YouTube ad revenue – Estimated $3-5 million per year
- Sponsored content – Up to $25,000 per sponsored post
- Affiliate commissions – Up to 20% per sale
- Ancestral Supplements company – Likely majority equity owner, brand value likely in tens of millions
- Merchandise sales – 30-40% of each item sold
- Memberships and paid content – Up to $599/month per member
- Public appearances, events, consulting – Fees up to 5 figures
When you combine these income sources, it‘s clear how Liver King has capitalized on his viral fame to build a small empire and amass serious wealth. Now let‘s look at each of these in more detail.
Cashing in on YouTube Fame
With 1.7 million YouTube subscribers, Liver King earns big money from the ads running on his consistently high-performing videos. He uploads 3-5 times per week, with most videos surpassing 1 million views.
According to experts, the average Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) for health and fitness content falls between $2-5. To be conservative in our estimates, let‘s assume his CPM is $3.
This means Liver King makes approximately $3,000 for every 1 million views on his monetized YouTube videos. With multiple videos hitting 1M+ views each week, his annual income from YouTube ads alone likely reaches $3-5 million.
For perspective, that puts his earnings on par with top YouTuber Markiplier who makes an estimated $3-$4 million annually. King‘s YouTube revenue even rivals big names like MrBeast, whose 75 million subscribers generate around $7 million per year in ad dollars.
So in the spectrum of YouTube earners, Liver King sits firmly in the top tier, even surpassing many gaming, comedy and late night personalities.
Big Paydays from Sponsored Content
Liver King frequently promotes sponsored content and brand partnerships on his social channels. With over 3 million followers across platforms, he can charge premium rates for brand promotion.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, sponsored Instagram posts from influencers with 1-2 million followers carry price tags between $10,000-$25,000. Micro-influencers with just 10,000-100,000 followers average $250-$2,500 per #ad post.
Given his celebrity-level following, it‘s reasonable to assume Liver King earns at least $15,000-20,000 for each branded content piece. He typically posts at least 2 sponsored content pieces every week across his channels.
At that rate, his annual income from sponsored posts likely falls in the range of $1.5-$2.5 million. And that‘s a conservative figure given his rising rates and frequent promotions. Brands paying for his endorsement have included Hu Kitchen, Bonafide, Heart & Soil, and more.
In the crowded world of influencer marketing, Liver King‘s vast audience and high engagement makes him ultra-valuable to advertisers. He can essentially print money through these simple social media partnerships.
Cashing in on Affiliate Sales
Affiliate marketing is another key income stream for the social media star. Liver King regularly promotes affiliate links, earning commissions on resulting sales and signups.
He directs his followers to products like Ancestral Supplements organ meats, workout gear from noiseworkout.com, and other health/fitness programs. Affiliate rates typically pay 5-20% commission per sale.
So if Liver King promotes a $100 product and makes a 10% commission, he pockets $10 for each of those sales. Given his mega-scale audience, he can easily drive thousands of sales per month through these affiliate partnerships.
To put some figures on it, if Liver King drives 20,000 affiliate sales per month at an average 10% commission, that‘s $20,000 per month or $240,000 per year from affiliates. And that assumes just moderate success – a dedicated promoter like him likely exceeds those numbers dramatically.
Cashing in on Ancestral Supplements
While affiliate commissions provide a nice revenue stream, Liver King‘s biggest financial opportunity is the supplement brand Ancestral Supplements that he founded in 2017.
The company specializes in organ meats, bone marrow, and other animal products that align with the primal/ancestral diet. As the founder and primary promoter, Johnson likely owns a majority equity stake in Ancestral Supplements.
While its financials are not publicly reported, we can look at the valuation of comparable supplement brands to estimate Ancestral Supplements‘ market value.
Health and nutrition supplement companies typically sell for 5-10X their annual revenue. For example, when pharmaceutical giant Bayer acquired supplement brand Care/of in 2019, it was making $100 million in annual revenue – putting its valuation around $1 billion.
Ancestral Supplements may not be at that scale yet, but it has likely reached tens of millions in revenue given the brand‘s growth. A reasonable benchmark valuation of 5X revenue would put Ancestral Supplements in the range of $50-$100 million.
As the majority owner, Liver King‘s equity stake is likely worth $25-$75 million on its own, making it one of his largest income assets outside of social media.
Cashing in on Merchandising
Like any influencer with a strong brand, Liver King sells a variety of merch to fans wanting to flaunt his signature looks and slogans. His online shop at ancestral.com offers t-shirts, hoodies, hats, mugs and other items ranging from $30 to $70.
Online merch stores through Shopify and other platforms enable creators to keep around 30-40% of sales revenue.
Let‘s say Liver King sells 10,000 merch items per month at an average price of $50, keeping 35% of sales. That would equal $175,000 per month or $2.1 million per year in merch profits.
His actual figures are likely higher than that example given his frequent promotion driving purchases. But even at those rates, merchandising provides a meaningful income stream from his loyal followers.
Monetizing His Super Fans
For his most devoted followers who want exclusive access, Liver King offers paid memberships to his "Inner Circle" starting at $29/month.
Higher tiers like the $599/month "Ancestral Elder" package include benefits like direct messaging, monthly calls, meetups and more.
These memberships essentially monetize his most engaged fans. Even if he only retains a few thousand paid subscribers, that still translates to nearly $2 million in annual revenue at an average of $100 per member per month.
Between his entry-level and premium tiers, loyal fans are happy to pay for the inside scoop on their movement leader – rewarding Liver King‘s ability to build community and connection around his #AncestralLiving brand.
Supplementing with Public Appearances
Popularity opens doors for public figures to earn income through offline engagements like speeches, corporate events, seminars and appearances.
As a viral influencer, Liver King can certainly command 5-figure fees to show up or speak at an event. Some health/fitness celebrities charge between $30,000-$100,000 for private events based on the type of function.
For example, celebrity trainer Bob Harper reportedly charges up to $100k for speeches at corporate wellness events. While Liver King may not be at that elite level, he likely still pockets at least $30-50k per private gig.
Even if he only does 25 events per year at an average of $40k, that‘s an extra $1 million earned directly from his celebrity status. These offline "side hustles" end up generating sizable income on top of his digital business efforts.
The Million Dollar Question: What‘s His Actual Net Worth?
Now that we‘ve walked through Liver King‘s broad income portfolio, let‘s tie it all together into a net worth estimate.
Based on the above information, his annual income likely ranges from a conservative $8 million on the low end, up to $30 million on the high end after factoring in ALL potential revenue streams.
Assuming at least 2 years of high earnings, and investments in assets like Ancestral Supplements, a reasonable total net worth estimate falls between $10 million to $100 million.
While the extremes of that range are possible given his meteoric rise, my educated guess would put his current valuation somewhere around $25-$50 million. But of course, his income scales up every month, so that net worth figure continues growing at a staggering clip!
The Takeaway: He‘s Cashed in on Viral Success
In the end, Liver King serves as a model case study for converting social media fame into a fortune. He‘s strategically capitalized on his viral persona to:
- Monetize attention across every major platform
- Partner with brands hungry for his reach
- Drive purchases through affiliates and merch
- Lock in paid memberships and content from super fans
- Diversify his income into offline realms
- And equity in Ancestral Supplements ties it all together
Very few people have leveraged internet fame as holistically and successfully as Liver King. His extreme health brand and primal appeal make him a marketing golden goose in the fitness world.
So while his persona elicits raised eyebrows from some, there‘s no denying the money machine he‘s built by embracing social media virality. Liver King laughs his way straight to the bank.
And that‘s the scoop on how one man transformed shock value into millions. Let me know if you have any other questions!
