KSI had monthly YouTube earnings leaked before quitting Sidemen
KSI is officially bidding farewell to the Sidemen after more than a decade, which dually means that he's also kissing goodbye to a huge chunk of change.
The London-born social media star, who has a rumoured net worth of around £75million, announced that he was parting ways with the YouTube group on Sunday (31 May).
After an impressive 13-year run, the 32-year-old is walking away from Simon Minter, Josh Bradley, Vikram Barn, Tobi Brown, Ethan Payne and Harry Lewis - as well as a significant source of income.
The content creator, businessman, musician and boxer first shot to fame after he began sharing videos online back in 2008.
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KSI has acquired a whopping 18.4million subscribers on his own YouTube channel, while the Sidemen's also boasts an impressive audience of 23.2million people.
The group, who formed back in 2013, started off making videos of them playing and reacting to video games, before their popularity exploded when they broadened their horizons.
The Sidemen started churning out comedy skits, travel content, dating shows and podcasts, allowing the seven lads to build quite the lucrative empire.
But KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, said he has been spreading himself thin as of late and this made him 'realise that something has to change'.
Announcing he would no longer be a part of the Sidemen, he said: "Somewhere along somewhere along the way, I started losing the balance of my own life. I found it hard to make enough time for myself.
"I found it hard I definitely found it hard to find time for my family. I found it hard to make time for the people I love. And I realised that something has to change.
"The Sidemen deserves someone who can give 100 percent. And right now I know I can't do that. It just wouldn't be fair on the boys, it wouldn't be fair to you and it wouldn't be fair to myself.
"Walking away from something you love is it's it's painful. Trust me, this has not been easy. But deep down, deep down, I know it's the right thing to do."
"Those boys help shape who I am today," KSI added. "And I hope in some small way that I shaped who they became too."
The Sidemen released their own statement saying they were 'sad' to hear that KSI could no longer commit himself to the group - while revealing that this news 'came as a surprise' to them.
"We had an amazing time on this journey with him and we wish him all the best with his future endeavours," the post read. "This doesn't change anything for the rest of us. We're still committed to creating the best content, events and shows that we can for you all."
If you were wondering what kind of money KSI has been raking in thanks to his success on social media over the years, you'll be thrilled to know his YouTube earnings were 'leaked' last year.
During an appearance on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, he took part in the comical 'Send To All' segment and relinquished control of his phone to the show's host.
For those unaware, guests allow Michael McIntyre to have 'full access' to their phone, so that he can message their contacts and have a look through some apps.
Take a look at this clip:
While checking through KSI's iPhone, McIntyre spotted the YouTube Studio app on his home page - and decided to open it in front of the audience.
It showed how much the online star had raked in for the month from YouTube ad revenue, and it was a fair few quid, given that he had 17.8 million views during that period.
The app showed an estimated revenue of $105,000 for the previous 28 days - and for arguments sake, let's imagine that this was an average month for KSI.
This would mean that he earns a whopping $1,260,000 a year.
“Wow, very impressive statistics,” McIntyre said, as KSI laughed: “Thank you, thank you. I’ve been working hard.”
Commenting on the segment, one viewer said: "The 'accidentally' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here... Michael knew exactly what he was doing."
Another added: "Ah is that is monthly revenue? $100k? I thought he'd earn more than that, considering how many subscribers and views he has. That's still pretty impressive too by the way."
A third penned: "Definitely staged as ain’t no way he knew to casually move to analytics right as he said he didn’t want to look at his revenue streams (plus he has his own YT channel lol)."
"Must be nice to see '+US$105K' on your phone and just treat it like a regular Tuesday. I get excited when I find a 100-dollar bill in my old jeans," a fourth wrote.
Others suggested that the whole thing was unlikely to be 'accidental' because 'KSI wouldn’t allow it if he wasn’t cool with it'.
KSI previously revealed what he thinks the 'main factor' that drove the Sidemen's success was - splitting their earnings equally.
Topics: KSI, Celebrity Net Worth, Celebrity, Money
Olivia Burke