Marques Brownlee, a digital creator who has built a business empire based on his 18.5 million YouTube subscribers, is adding a new title to his résumé: board member and chief creative partner at accessories company Ridge.
The move signals the growing power of high-profile creators and of belief by companies that bringing them on board in a formal role can add to their bottom lines.
As part of the alliance, Brownlee is getting an undisclosed stake in Ridge. The company declined to disclose whether it was a direct investment or whether it was given to him.
Brownlee gained his online celebrity status through his MKBHD YouTube channel, where he reviews tech products. Over 12-plus years as a creator, he’s gained a cult following that has also propelled the popularity of his Waveform podcast with news site Vox and opened the door to interviewing high-profile figures like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former President Barack Obama.
The 30-year-old YouTube kingpin makes money from sponsorship deals with brands, merchandise sales, and a whole lot of ad revenue from YouTube. In all, he rakes in $8.5 million annually, according to Forbes.
Ridge was founded by father-son team Daniel and Paul Kane in a 2013 Kickstarter campaign to make and sell a wallet made from aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber. The duo aimed to raise $14,000 for the venture, but ended up with over $126,000. Since then, the Los Angeles–based company has expanded its staff to 75 people and its product line to include a wide variety of accessories such as luggage and rings via its website, Amazon, Nordstrom, Best Buy, and Scheels. The company makes “hundreds of millions” in annual revenue, according to Ridge CEO Sean Frank.
Both Brownlee and Frank say that the YouTuber’s day-to-day responsibilities at Ridge have yet to be determined. But with Brownlee in his new job, Frank talked of Ridge branching out to products for women and expanding its men’s wedding bands collection. It’s unclear how much Brownlee will show off Ridge products in his future videos. What’s certain is that Brownlee will be helping with marketing.
“He’s teaching us to be more of a content-first brand, like how we actually get better at storytelling instead of just running static image ads on Facebook,” Frank says. “If we could make Ridge synonymous with the MKBHD brand, that would be a huge success for us.”
Ridge marks Brownlee’s first-ever board seat and formal title with a brand. Most star creators either serve as brand spokespeople or launch their own consumer-focused companies. The most successful ones to create their own businesses include MrBeast’s chocolate giant Feastables and Logan Paul and KSI’s drink company Prime.
“I really am happy with how much input I’m gonna get to have on actually bringing certain products to life,” Brownlee told Fortune about his work with Ridge, adding that he hopes to iterate on existing Ridge products and make wholly new ones. “We’re going to be in this for the long haul.”
Brownlee also has stakes in laptop camera company Opal and podcast and video editing company Riverside.FM.
Some businesses have taken on traditional celebrities as investors, but relatively few companies have tapped creators as equity partners. Those include credit card company Karat, cooking video app startup Flavrs, and cosmetics retailer Nudestix.
“This is just the next iteration of where influence lies,” says Megan Lightcap, a principal at Slow Ventures who leads creator investing. “I think it’s a great signal for creators—that in certain categories they have way more influence than general celebrities.”
The creator economy has slowed from its pandemic-era boom, when lockdowns and remote work left people with a lot of time on their hands to scroll through social media. Some creators and their managers say that only YouTube and Snapchat pay well, brand deals have slowed, and investors have lost their appetite for funding creator-founded startups.
Brownlee said he was willing to join forces with Ridge because he felt products like its $125 RFID-blocking wallet and $75 Swiss Army–style key rings are “built to last for lifetimes.” Plus, the company has spent aggressively on creator marketing by partnering with around 1,000 YouTubers annually to help with its marketing, according to CEO Frank.
For Frank, bringing a creator to the boardroom was the logical next step as he attempts to ready the company for what he hopes is a $1 billion exit in two years. “We’re trying to build what I call the American Mont Blanc,” says Frank, referring to the luxury goods company. “It felt like a perfect alignment to get [Brownlee] on the cap table and give him a good chunk of this business to help us scale.”