It's official: YouTube has dethroned Disney to become the world’s biggest media company. Financial research firm MoffettNathanson crunched the numbers and found that the Google-owned platform pulled in an estimated $62B in revenue in 2025, leapfrogging Disney's media business, which posted $60.9B (theme parks not included). Bob Iger definitely did not have YouTube circled on his threat board in 2005, but here we are. Here’s what the numbers look like:
- YouTube's valuation: $500B–$560B. Netflix, its closest rival, sits at ~$409B
- Ad revenue alone topped $40B for the year, with $11.4B coming in Q4
- YouTube TVÂ now has ~10M subscribers, and is expected to eventually surpass Charter and Comcast
- The platform has paid out over $100B to creators, musicians, and media partners
The bigger picture: While just about every traditional media company is treading water or cutting costs, YouTube keeps accelerating. The combination of a massive creator economy, a growing pay-TV business, and AI tools that help creators produce content faster and cheaper has put it in a league of its own. MoffettNathanson says YouTube is one of the only companies that benefits from the changes hitting both media and tech right now. No traditional player can say the same.
