Topline
One among YouTube’s oldest and most profitable comedy collectives, Smosh, has been purchased again by its once-estranged co-creators, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla—marking a brand new chapter within the model that has modified palms twice since 2018.
Web personalities Anthony Padilla (L) and Ian Hecox communicate onstage throughout the sixth annual Streamy … [+]
Key Info
Hecox and Padilla acquired a majority possession stake in Smosh for an undisclosed worth—taking again the corporate from YouTube comedy and speak present duo Rhett & Hyperlink, who acquired Smosh 4 years in the past by their manufacturing firm, Legendary Leisure, in keeping with Selection.
Rhett & Hyperlink will stay concerned in an advisory capability by a minority stake in Smosh, which garnered a big following by years of unique sketch comedy and improv content material that has outlasted a lot of YouTube’s earliest creators.
Along with being enterprise companions, Hecox and Padilla may even star in Smosh’s inventive content material, which spans three separate YouTube channels that includes comedy skits, gaming content material and web challenges.
The primary forged of creators and comedians who’ve produced and starred in Smosh’s content material—Courtney Miller, Shayne Topp and Damien Haas—will maintain their posts on the firm, persevering with to supply content material out of their 17,000-square-foot studio area in Burbank.
Massive Quantity
Greater than 10 billion. That’s the variety of all-time views Smosh has garnered with its 16-year-old principal channel.
Key Background
Based in 2006, Smosh is one among YouTube’s oldest comedy collectives. The channel, created by childhood pals Hecox and Padilla, was the most-subscribed to YouTube channel in 2013 and now holds 25.1 million subscribers, with subscriptions beginning at $2.99 a month. Padilla left Smosh in 2017 to pursue his personal unbiased content material, a couple of 12 months earlier than the model’s former dad or mum firm—Defy Media—shut down. Hecox advised Selection that his friendship with Padilla was “probably not that good” by the point his childhood pal left the corporate. Padilla mentioned the communication model between him and Hecox was “type of caught in that age of 17,” however that the 2 had finished quite a lot of rising after they reconnected. Hecox carried Smosh by the lack of its co-founder and dad or mum firm, finally securing a buyout by the hands of Rhett & Hyperlink’s Legendary Leisure in 2019 for lower than $10 million. The acquisition helped Smosh proceed to function its channels, which nonetheless garner a whole lot of hundreds of views per video. Smosh Gaming and Smosh Pit produce totally different content material from the principle channel, with each presently boasting greater than 7 million subscribers respectively.
Additional Studying
Smosh Co-Founders Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox Reunite to Purchase Comedy Model From Rhett & Hyperlink (Selection)
Rhett And Hyperlink Are YouTube Legends. Now They Need To Be Traders, Too (Forbes)
