How a Teenage “Problem Child” on YouTube Went From an FBI Raid to a Multimillion-Dollar Business Empire and a Cult

Being famous has been Jake Paul's best friend and worst enemy.

Before the 27-year-old became the third-richest content creator, raking in $38 million in 2023 and challenging boxing legend Mike Tyson in a fight broadcast on Netflix, Paul was Disney's nightmare employee .

After gaining internet fame making six-second comedy videos on Vine, Paul was fired from the children's show. Bizaardvark, where he played Dirk Mann, the stuntman. In a twisted view of art imitating life, Paul was kicked out by Disney in 2017 for causing a nuisance with his own stunts, lighting fires in empty swimming pools, brandishing a T-shirt gun at a reporter and organizing drag racing dirt bikes in front of his home. Rental house.

“We’re not even that loud,” Paul said The Hollywood Reporter after the incidents. “Yes, we once had a furniture fire that got out of control in our backyard. But it didn't hurt anyone.

Even though he amassed 47 million followers on YouTube and Instagram with his prank videos and behind-the-scenes video blogs of his budding boxing career, trouble continued to follow Paul.

In addition to allegations of sexual assault and use of racial slurs in YouTube videos, Paul threw loud parties during the height of COVID and was charged with trespassing and unlawful assembly after being filmed with a bottle of vodka stolen from a looted shopping center. The charges were later dismissed. But following the mall incident, the FBI also searched his home with a SWAT team in August 2020. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona later said he would not face charges federal.

So it's hard to imagine this same guy becoming the face of a venture capital fund that has invested in the success of brands like Olipop and Fly By Jing. Or that he would become the founder of a new brand of personal care deodorants and body sprays called W – a play on words on Gen Z streaming slang for “win” – which launched this week in 3,900 Walmarts, with more products launching later this month. 400 additional Walmart locations.

But as the name of his new brand suggests, Paul continued to rack up victories despite a wave of “1,000 failures.” Having surprisingly – but not inexplicably – snatched victory from the jaws of defeat time and time again, Paul learned to love controversy.

“Other businessmen understand, and businesswomen understand that when you do something incredible, everyone is going to try to stop you,” Paul said. Fortune.

The “problem child” grows up

Following the narrative of so many content creators in the mid-2010s, Paul gradually moved away from prank videos and turned to other ways of making money. He nicknamed himself “the problem child” and made a name for himself in boxing, where he had a record of nine wins and one loss. In 2021, he co-founded venture capital fund Anti Fund alongside Geoffrey Woo, an entrepreneur who spurned Paul a decade earlier, when he launched his content house Team 10.

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Woo said Fortune It's a common strategy for influencers to try their hand at consumer brands and venture capital after juicing YouTube.

“Content creators, or celebrities in general, think it’s a free grab,” he said.

According to Amanda Russell, marketing consultant and author of The Influencer Code: How to Unlock the Power of Influencer Marketing it can really be lucrative. Content creators like Paul already have built-in audiences, allowing their brands to grow quickly.

“It’s getting harder and harder for brands to break through,” Russell said. Fortune. “Now everything is a commodity unless consumers have a connection with the product. People don’t really resonate with brands; they resonate with people.

But Paul will tell you himself: just having your name attached to a business does not mean success. In 2016, its social media site Locker Room, which divided users into boys- and girls-only groups, shut down after just 500 downloads. In 2018, he was accused of scamming customers of his online platform Edfluence, which offered instructional videos on becoming an influencer, after users were unable to unlock the videos even after paying the initial $7 fee. $ to do this. And in March 2023, he paid $400,000 to the SEC for promoting an alleged crypto scam.

“You have to go through those times where you're losing money, your idea isn't as good as you thought it was,” Paul said. “These are the things that make you grow in the long term.”

Woodie Hillyard, CEO of W, saw more of this Paul – the self-aware and humble entrepreneur with a real hunger to succeed – when he met him a year and a half ago. During one of their first meetings, a group of children approached Paul to ask for his autographs. Hillyard remembers Paul being patient, asking each child about their interest in school and their favorite sports.

“You just saw him connect with people on a human level, and it made you realize he’s a great guy,” Hillyard said. Fortune. “People have the opportunity to grow.”

While Hillyard sees a young business partner with softened edges and a calm demeanor, Paul, at least in the public eye, still relies on his troublemaking persona. In a recent promotional video for W, Paul calls himself “stupid and smelly,” asking a production assistant to apply deodorant to his hairy, sweaty pits.

“Personally, I don’t think I’m controversial. I tell the truth and people don’t like the truth in today’s world because the truth hurts,” Paul said. “I was never afraid to ruffle feathers or speak my mind.”

'Content is king'

Don’t dismiss Paul’s bravado. Paul was unsuccessful despite his controversy, Russell argued. It is thanks to this that he found his professional place.

“Those who try to please everyone aren’t really for anyone,” she said. “The more you stand for something, the more you create a cult. »

Paul is hyper-aware of his past delinquency. He used his continued relevance, even infamy, to his advantage: “Content is king,” he said. “The most important thing is eyes, marketing and exposure.”

This strategy is not foolproof, as the Paul family knows. His older brother Logan Paul has enjoyed meteoric success with his Prime energy drink brand, launched alongside boxer KSI. But after raking in more than $1 billion in sales within two years of launching the company, the brand's rapid growth became unsustainable.

Generation Alpha lost interest in the drink as they latched onto the next hot product. And after being hit with a lawsuit alleging they contain more caffeine than labeled and “forever chemicals”, Prime bottles can now be found on the shelves of UK retailers at discount prices.

But Jake Paul is confident in his winning mentality in the face of adversity. He's been through serious controversies, criminal allegations, and failed businesses, and he always comes out the other side.

“Everyone wants to see you fall, and you just keep rising to the occasion and overcoming and conquering and continuing to fight,” Paul said. “And that’s really what I did.”

“Some of my biggest losses have been my biggest wins,” he added.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com