Usman Salis
You know that super energetic kids' character in the blue shirt? Yeah, that's Blippi, and the guy behind him (Stevin John) just made himself worth $40 million. Not bad for someone who started out filming videos in his apartment.
Before Blippi Was Rich: How Stevin John Actually Started Making Money
So here's the thing about Stevin John - before he became the guy who makes millions singing about colors and shapes, he was just another dude trying to make it work after the military. Back in 2006, when he was only 18, John joined the Air Force and became what they call a loadmaster. Basically, his job was figuring out how to pack cargo planes without everything falling over when they took off.
He spent two years doing that from 2006 to 2008, probably making around $20,000-$30,000 a year like most junior military guys. Not exactly rolling in cash, but it taught him discipline and work ethic that would pay off big time later. After getting out of the Air Force, John did what a lot of veterans do - he moved to LA to chase bigger dreams.
Those years in LA before Blippi were rough, man. John was grinding it out doing video editing work and marketing consulting, basically whatever gigs he could find. If you've ever tried to make it in LA, you know how expensive everything is and how hard it is to get steady work. He was probably scraping together $30,000 to $60,000 a year doing freelance stuff, which sounds okay until you factor in LA rent.
The crazy part is that the whole Blippi idea came from something totally random. In 2013, John was babysitting his 2-year-old nephew and got annoyed watching all the crappy kids' content on YouTube. He's sitting there thinking "I could make something way better than this garbage," and that random thought eventually turned into tens of millions of dollars. Sometimes life's weird like that.
When Blippi Started Printing Money
John launched the first Blippi video in 2014, and honestly, what happened next was pretty nuts. Most YouTubers spend years trying to build an audience, but kids went absolutely crazy for this character almost immediately. The bright colors, the energy, the actual educational stuff - it was like crack for toddlers, and parents loved that their kids were actually learning something.
By 2017, we're talking hundreds of millions of views. The YouTube ad money alone was probably bringing in several hundred thousand dollars a year, which is already way more than John was making doing freelance work. But here's where he got really smart - he didn't just sit back and collect ad revenue like most YouTubers.
John started cranking out merchandise, booking live shows, and making deals with streaming platforms. When your content is getting that many views, companies start throwing money at you for licensing deals. We're talking about Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix - all these platforms wanted Blippi content, and they pay serious money for exclusive rights.
The live shows were absolutely insane too. "Blippi Live!" was selling out venues all over the country. Parents were paying $50-100 per ticket to take their kids to see this guy dance around on stage. When you're selling thousands of tickets per show and doing dozens of shows, that's millions of dollars right there. By 2020, people in the industry were saying John was pulling in somewhere between $17-25 million a year across all his different income streams.
The Big Payday: When Stevin John Hit the Actual Jackpot
This is where things get really wild. In 2020, a company called Moonbug Entertainment decided they wanted to buy the whole Blippi brand. Nobody knows the exact number, but industry insiders think it was somewhere between $100-200 million. Yeah, you read that right - John basically sold his YouTube character for potentially nine figures.
But wait, it gets even crazier. John probably kept ownership stakes and royalty rights, so he's still making money off everything Blippi-related. Then in 2021, Moonbug itself got bought by Candle Media for $3 billion. So John's little stake in this thing just became worth even more money.
Think about this for a second - John went from making maybe $50,000 a year doing video editing in LA to potentially making $20-30 million annually just because he created a character that kids love. During this peak period, he was probably one of the highest-paid content creators on the planet, and most people had never even heard of him because he makes kids' content instead of drama videos or gaming streams.
The smartest thing John did was bring in other performers to play Blippi in some videos and live shows. This let him step back from the day-to-day grind while still owning all the intellectual property. He basically turned himself from a performer into a media executive, which is where the real money is.
What's Blippi Worth Right Now?
Here's where it gets confusing - different websites are throwing around wildly different numbers for John's current net worth. Celebrity Net Worth says $40 million, some other places claim it's as high as $75 million. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but honestly, when you're dealing with that much money, does it really matter if it's $40 million or $75 million?
What we know for sure is that the Blippi brand is still absolutely massive. The YouTube channel has over 19 million subscribers, billions of total views, and new episodes are still being made. The merchandise is still flying off shelves, streaming deals are still paying out, and live shows are still selling tickets.
John's probably making $10-15 million a year right now just from ongoing royalties and his ownership stakes. That's the beautiful thing about what he built - even if he never made another Blippi video, he'd still be earning millions every year from all the existing content and licensing deals. It's like owning rental properties, except instead of real estate, he owns a children's character.
The craziest part is that John essentially created a money-printing machine by accident. He was just trying to make better content for his nephew, and it turned into one of the most valuable children's entertainment properties in the world.
How to Get Rich Like Blippi: Stevin John's Actual Success Formula
If you want to learn something from John's success story, here's what actually worked for him. First off, he didn't start by trying to get rich or famous - he started by solving a real problem. He saw that kids' content on YouTube was mostly garbage, so he made something better. That's way more powerful than just trying to chase money or views.
John also treated this like a real business from day one, not just a fun hobby. He invested in good equipment, created consistent branding, and had a clear plan for what he wanted to build. Most people who try YouTube treat it like a side project and wonder why they never make any money. John approached it like he was starting a media company, because that's exactly what he was doing.
The diversification thing was huge too. John didn't just rely on YouTube ad money like most creators. He quickly branched out into merchandise, live shows, licensing deals, and international expansion. When you have multiple income streams, you're way less vulnerable if one of them disappears. Plus, each new stream multiplies your total earning potential.
But probably the most important thing John did was focus on building something he could own and eventually sell. He didn't just become a famous performer - he created intellectual property that had real value. When Moonbug came knocking with their acquisition offer, John had built something genuinely worth buying, not just personal fame that couldn't be transferred to someone else.
His biggest piece of advice would probably be this: don't try to copy what everyone else is doing. Find a real problem you can solve, execute it better than anyone else, and build something you actually own. Sometimes the best opportunities are hiding in the most unexpected places - like watching a toddler get frustrated with bad YouTube videos and realizing you could do way better.
Usman Salis
