DanTDM
DanTDM (born Daniel Robert Middleton; November 8, 1991) is a British YouTuber who turned blocky Minecraft adventures into one of the biggest family-friendly empires on the internet.[1] In 2017 Forbes named him the highest-paid YouTube star in the world, and his channel has more than 29 million subscribers as of September 2026.[2]
| DanTDM | |||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | Daniel Robert Middleton November 8, 1991 Aldershot, England, United Kingdom | ||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||
| Education | University of Northampton | ||||||||||||
| Occupation | YouTuber | ||||||||||||
| YouTube information | |||||||||||||
| Channel | |||||||||||||
| Also known as | DanTDM | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 2012–present | ||||||||||||
| Genre | Gaming (Minecraft) | ||||||||||||
| Subscribers | 29 million+ (September 2026) | ||||||||||||
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Early life and education
Middleton was born on 8 November 1991 in Aldershot, England, and grew up as an ordinary British kid obsessed with Pokémon cards long before he ever touched Minecraft.[3] He studied music production at the University of Northampton, and while finding his footing he worked weekend shifts at Tesco — a far cry from the Sydney Opera House stage he would one day sell out.[4] He is married to Jemma Middleton, and the couple have two sons; he keeps his family life deliberately private, a stance he has defended in interviews as the price of staying sane in the spotlight.[5]
Career
Middleton created his channel in July 2012 under the name TheDiamondMinecart, posting Minecraft videos with a warmth and storytelling flair that set him apart from the shouty competition.[6] His deliberate choice to keep things clean and genuinely fun made parents trust him and kids adore him, and the channel snowballed into a phenomenon.[7] As his audience outgrew the old name, he rebranded to DanTDM — the name the whole world knows him by today.[8]
Then came the year that made him a household name. In December 2017 Forbes crowned him the highest-paid YouTube star on the planet, estimating his earnings at 16.5 million US dollars for the year — about 12.3 million pounds — built on roughly 16 million subscribers and 10 billion total views at the time.[9][10] The British press loved the arc: the Tesco shelf-stacker turned richest YouTuber in the world, now embarking on a 97-date world tour that included the second-fastest-selling show in the history of the Sydney Opera House.[11]
Middleton kept expanding beyond the bedroom-studio format. He wrote the graphic novel Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal, starred in the six-episode YouTube Red series DanTDM Creates a Big Scene in April 2017, and voiced a character in Minecraft: Story Mode.[12][13] Even as trends shifted, he stayed loyal to long-form Minecraft: in 2020 he completed every single Minecraft achievement on Hardcore mode, a gruelling feat his audience followed for months.[14] His legacy came full circle in 2025 when he appeared in A Minecraft Movie, the blockbuster film adaptation of the game that made him famous.[15]
He has not been afraid to speak his mind, either. In September 2024 he publicly criticised Lunchly — the lunch-kit brand from MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI — tweeting that they were "selling crap to kids who don't know better," which drew an angry backlash from the founders and a viral defence from Jacksepticeye, who told the internet: "You mess with DanTDM, you mess with YouTube."[16] Through it all he has insisted that anyone chasing YouTube fame should be driven by passion for making videos, not money — advice from a man who started in a Tesco uniform.[17]
References
- ↑ https://www.avclub.com/dantdm-keeps-it-clean-on-youtubeand-on-the-stage
- ↑ http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/12/08/dan-middleton-dantdm-top-earning-youtuber-forbes/
- ↑ https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2024/11/20/wannabe-youtubers-must-be-motivated-by-passion-for-making-videos-says-dantdm/
- ↑ https://www.indy100.com/news/tesco-worker-richest-youtube-dan-middleton-dantdm-minecraft-ps12million-8099881
- ↑ https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2024/11/20/wannabe-youtubers-must-be-motivated-by-passion-for-making-videos-says-dantdm/
- ↑ https://www.avclub.com/dantdm-keeps-it-clean-on-youtubeand-on-the-stage
- ↑ https://www.avclub.com/dantdm-keeps-it-clean-on-youtubeand-on-the-stage
- ↑ https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/a-minecraft-movie-youtube-cameos-explained-technoblade-3174032/
- ↑ http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/12/08/dan-middleton-dantdm-top-earning-youtuber-forbes/
- ↑ https://www.indy100.com/news/tesco-worker-richest-youtube-dan-middleton-dantdm-minecraft-ps12million-8099881
- ↑ https://www.indy100.com/news/tesco-worker-richest-youtube-dan-middleton-dantdm-minecraft-ps12million-8099881
- ↑ https://www.avclub.com/dantdm-keeps-it-clean-on-youtubeand-on-the-stage
- ↑ https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2017/03/31/check-out-the-first-official-trailer-for-dantdm-39-s-new-youtube-red-show
- ↑ https://www.dexerto.com/minecraft/youtuber-dantdm-completes-minecraft-in-insane-hardcore-run-1315152/
- ↑ https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/a-minecraft-movie-youtube-cameos-explained-technoblade-3174032/
- ↑ https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/jacksepticeye-defends-dantdm-after-mrbeast-logan-paul-hit-back-over-lunchly-criticism-2902887/
- ↑ https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2024/11/20/wannabe-youtubers-must-be-motivated-by-passion-for-making-videos-says-dantdm/