PewDiePie: "Money Doesn't Make You Happy"

Felix 'PewDiePie' Kjellberg has responded to negative comments resulting from recent reports claiming he earned $7.5 million in 2014.

A new six-minute video posted on YouTube, he recounts his rise to prominence--which starts with dropping out of university to work at a hot dog stand--before addressing the issue of money.

"Money is a topic that I purposefully tried to avoid for the five years I've been making videos," he said. "I just feel like it's not important to anyone. I just want to make entertaining videos."

"Whenever it comes out how much I made a certain year, people just get so shocked," he continues. "A lot of people were also very angry. They thought it was unfair. They thought I just sit on my ass and I yell at the screen over here--which is true--but there's so much more to it than that."

The YouTube superstar goes on to admit that money has certainly helped him, but added that he feels that people getting upset about him is "just sad."

"I understand that haters are going to hate, but I really think that money doesn't make you happy. I'm just as happy now as I was five years ago. I'm very happy that I don't have to worry about paying rent.

"That was a huge issue when Marzia [another successful YouTuber and PewDiePie's girlfriend] came to Sweden, we could barely afford it. So I'm happy about that, but other than that, it doesn't change much. To see so many people upset about this thing--it's just sad. I think it's such a waste."

According to a Swedish newspaper, PewDiePie Productions AB, Kjeilber's company, generated 63 million SEK ($7.4m) in 2014, which was up from $3.5 million in 2013, and $850k in 2012.

PewDiePie, who is famous for his Let's Play videos, currently has 37 million subscribers and is believed to generate more than $4 million in ad sales per year. In 2014, he raised $630,000 for the Save the Children charity.