Peter McKinnon has one of the fastest-growing channels on YouTube, reaching a million subscribers in less than 12 months. With such rapid success on the platform, many are wondering “how much is Peter McKinnon worth?”.
With over 5.6 million subscribers and over half a billion views, Peter Mckinnon has a net worth of approximately $8 million. This comes primarily from his popular YouTube channel, as well as sponsorships, product sales, affiliate marketing, partnerships, and professional work as a photographer/videographer.
This Canadian YouTuber is already one of the most well-known photographers in the world today. In this article, we’re going to look at how Pete built up this wealth, his other ventures, and the career that brought him to this point.
Overview
Born October 28, 1985, Peter McKinnon teaches and offers tips to amateur and hobby photographers through his channel on YouTube.
He’s been in the business for a long time but gained notoriety after featuring his work in a few magazines such as Popular Photography and Magic Magazine.
He has also been featured on The Discovery Channel, Nat Geo, Gizmodo, and BuzzFeed, just to name a few.
| Name | Peter McKinnon |
| Profession | YouTuber/Photographer |
| Estimated Net Worth | $8 million |
| Birthday | October 28, 1985 |
| Place of birth | Toronto, Canada |
| Height | 6’2” (188 cm) |
| Weight | 176 lb (80 kg) |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown or Black |
Early life
Peter McKinnon, born on October 28 in 1985, grew up in a loving middle-class family in Toronto, Canada. His mother is a housewife and his father, Monty McKinnon, is a luthier. At one point in his younger years, he played drums in a band and still plays recreationally to this day.
After graduating high school, he went to college and has a formal education in photography. He currently has a degree in both cinematography and photography.
But, Pete didn’t do all of this at once, he left for a while and then earned his degree that coincided with his growing professional success.
Personal Life
Peter tends to keep his personal life rather private and doesn’t divulge much about his family or friends, except perhaps to mention how they support him.
He does have a wife named Janice and they’ve been together for over a decade, since their first meeting at Best Buy. The couple married in 2020.
From what can be gathered from his videos, McKinnon has a young son and two dogs.
Career
Peter is a successful photographer but became even more renowned when he was featured in Magic Magazine in January 2015 and Popular Photography. In fact, he practically became an overnight sensation.
Because of this, he felt the pull to nab a larger audience and began his YouTube channel in 2016 to do just that (he claimed the channel in 2010 already though).
His channel growth was rapid and grew exponentially on a daily basis thanks to one of his most popular videos going viral, “8 Camera Hacks in 90 Seconds”.
Pete now has over 5.6 million subscribers on his main channel, with multiple videos exceeding 5 million views and also YouTube shorts exceeding 10 million views.
His channel has evolved from primarily tutorials, tips, and vlogs, to include commentary on the industry, reviews, and short films.
Pete has recently launched a second channel “Pete’s Pirate Life” and shares a podcast with his friend and fellow Canada-based YouTuber Matti Haapoja called “The Matti & Pete Show”.
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How much money does Peter McKinnon make on YouTube?
Peter McKinnon has over 5.6 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel, with over 537 million views. This equates to around $5.37 million dollars from YouTube ads alone.
Pete’s second channel has just begun, but already has over 55,000 subscribers and over 280,000 views. With this channel, he has already made approximately $2,240.
The joint channel that Pete has with Matti Haapoja has over 43,000 subscribers and over 840,000 views. This channel has earned around $8,400 for the creators, and if they’re splitting it 50:50, this would be $4,200 for McKinnon.
All of his channels combined, this means Peter McKinnon has made approximately $5,376,440 from YouTube ads appearing on his videos.
This does not include the money he earns from affiliate sales from the links in his video descriptions, paid sponsorships by the many technology companies that send him gear, and the partnerships he has with Nomadic, James Coffee, etc. as well as products he sells, like Lightroom presets.
Note: The above YouTube income estimates have been made using our YouTube Money Calculator, the most accurate YouTube calculator that factors in the most important variables that affect how much a channel can earn.
Adventures in the Workforce
His earlier adventures in the workforce are integral to the path Peter is on now. He did start to work for Apple, but left during the job interview. According to Peter, the employees were too strange and he didn’t fit with the atmosphere.
He’s also worked for State Farm but lost the job after three months because he played hooky. Essentially, he called in sick, took a flight to a more desirable location, and then blogged about it. Naturally, the boss found out, confronted him, and let him go.
Peter also worked landscaping but other employees had fun at his expense, making Peter’s experience less than tolerable. Shortly after working at a wood factory sorting lumber sizes, he found a job at Ellusionist.
A Photographic Calling
Ellusionist taught magic and sleight of hand to amateur and novice magicians. Here, Peter flourished as a photographer and production manager. His work with Ellusionist gained him a following through features in magazines like Popular Photography and Magic Magazine.
He’s also done work for The Discovery Channel, Nat Geo, and Gizmodo. He captures nature in rare and beautiful forms, presenting his own visual twist that continues to attract big-name jobs. He also does photoshoots and other formal types. But nature is his favorite subject.
At one time, he showed his viewers a series with a plaid chair. It was a marvel of modern photo manipulation with such simple subject matter. He showed how to change and alter elements within a picture that only the well-trained eye can detect.
Other Ventures
Besides running his ever-growing YouTube channel, Peter continues to work as a professional photographer.
His work helps him to travel all over the world, frequently visiting some of the most beautiful countries and natural landscapes.
In addition to his YouTube channel and photography, he has used his brand to partner with Nomadic to create a high-end backpack for photographers, which later developed further into a whole line-up of photography backpack gear.
Continuing the partnership trend on things he’s clearly passionate about is his partnership with James Coffee out of San Diego. Here they created a special Peter McKinnon collection with his very own blend of coffee, appropriately named, Golden Hour.
Real Estate
While Pete seems to share a lot in his vlogs, he’s actually very private when it comes to his private life and therefore also his real estate.
Aside from the home he shares with his wife Janice, there is little known about his property endeavors. With the launch of his new channel “Pete’s Pirate Life”, it does seem like he has acquired a smallholding, however.
Highlights
Peter McKinnon hasn’t won any industry photography awards as of yet, but he has been recognized in numerous other ways.
One of the most impressive is his work with the Canadian royal mint, where he has been brought in to mint two of his photographs, the first being a shot of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, minted in 2019, and the second shot is yet to be released.
He has won the “Shorty Award for Breakout YouTuber,” for his sudden rise to fame on the social media platform. Plus, he earned the “Gold Creator Award” once he surpassed one million subscribers.
Final thoughts on Peter Mckinnon’s net worth
Peter McKinnon is a YouTuber and professional photographer with a net worth of around $8 million.
He started out working odd jobs, but soon found his niche in photography and video production.
His work has taken him all over the world, and he continues to produce high-quality content for his audience of millions.
While he’s private about his off-camera life, we do know that he’s married and has a love for nature and coffee.
His film style is extremely engaging and he has a loyal fanbase. We expect his net worth to continue to grow as he partners with more brands and produces more content.
All in all, Peter McKinnon is a huge success story and an inspiration to anyone looking to turn their passion into a career.