1 min read
Sources:
press and public records, Kevin's account
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Short answer
The verified figures are from 2020 and 2021. CNBC’s Millennial Money reported the Paffraths earned $1.075 million in May 2020 alone and were on track for over $6 million in 2020, mostly YouTube ads and affiliates rather than real estate. In August 2021 CNBC reported close to $10 million from YouTube in the prior twelve months. No figure has been published since. Today the channel’s ad revenue flows to The Paffrath Organization, an S corporation Kevin owns separately from Reinvest, which pays him no salary. 123
May 2020: $1.075M (one month, per CNBC)
2020: $6M+ (on track, mostly ads and affiliates)
12 months to Aug 2021: ~$10M (from YouTube, per CNBC)
Since: Not published (flows to his separate S corporation)
The record
CNBC’s Millennial Money series profiled Kevin and Lauren in late 2019 and reported that they earned $1.075 million in May 2020 and were on track for more than $6 million in 2020, with most of it from YouTube advertising and affiliate links rather than real estate. In August 2021 CNBC’s Ari Levy reported he had earned close to $10 million from YouTube over the previous twelve months. 12
Those are the last verified numbers. Earnings-estimate sites publish guesses based on view counts; none has access to his books.
Kevin’s account
Kevin’s account
Did the money surprise me? No. COVID-era social media paid more than real estate, and I am not ashamed of that. It just made me double down on providing value online.
How it is structured now
The channel is operated by The Paffrath Organization, Inc., an S corporation Kevin owns. Ad revenue goes there. Reinvest pays him no salary for the content and has no creative control; the channel promotes Reinvest’s membership and software, and Reinvest reimburses some of the S corporation’s costs in exchange for placing sponsorships, on what Kevin calls a nominal basis. 3
For an investor, the point is that YouTube income is Kevin’s, not the company’s, and that the channel is a marketing asset the company uses without owning.
Over $6 million in 2020, close to $10 million in the year to mid-2021, and nothing published since. Reinvest investors do not own the channel and do not pay for it. 123
Simply put
✅ What is known
➡️ CNBC filmed him in 2019 and reported the 2020 numbers: about a million dollars in one month, over six million for the year.
➡️ CNBC said close to ten million from YouTube in the year before August 2021.
✅ What is not
➡️ Anything after 2021. Blogs that print a current figure are estimating.
✅ Where it goes
➡️ To The Paffrath Organization, Kevin's own company, not to Reinvest.
➡️ Reinvest pays Kevin no salary for the videos. The channel promotes Reinvest products.
Sources
CNBC Make It, Millennial Money, "Living on $6 million a year in Ventura, CA" (filmed November 2019, aired November 2020), as cited by Wikipedia and company research, Open
CNBC, Ari Levy, August 15, 2021 (close to $10 million from YouTube in the prior 12 months), as cited by company research, Open
Kevin's account, How the YouTube business fits: “That's supplementary income to me that Reinvest doesn't pay a salary for” Read the excerpt
