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Home / Lifestyle

How Aussie uni dropout became YouTube multi-millionaire

news.com.au
10 Aug, 2020 08:27 PM2 mins to read

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Elliott Watkins generates upwards of a million video views each day on his YouTube channel - earning him about A$7500 a day. Photo / Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram

Elliott Watkins generates upwards of a million video views each day on his YouTube channel - earning him about A$7500 a day. Photo / Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram

Six years ago Elliott Watkins dropped out of his university law degree and internship with Gilbert + Tobin, the prestigious Sydney firm which advises on regulatory disputes and issues such as Indigenous reconciliation.

One can only imagine the conversation with his mother Alison Watkins, group managing director of Coca Cola Amatil, when Elliott told her he wanted to pursue his interest in gaming.

He had grown up watching YouTube stars rather than movies or television and wanted to become one.

Alison Watkins is one of Australia's most intriguing corporate bosses with a life story starting with being born on a Tasmanian farm, getting a shotgun aged 12 for Christmas from her dad and landing her first job in a shearing shed.

Elliott Watkins, best known by his fans as Muselk, pictured posing on the exit of a private plane, reportedly owned by Dan Bilzerian. Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram
Elliott Watkins, best known by his fans as Muselk, pictured posing on the exit of a private plane, reportedly owned by Dan Bilzerian. Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram
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So perhaps she just told her son to go for it, for a year later, aged 20, Elliott founded his YouTube channel featuring live gaming, tutorials and vlogs.

Known online as Muselk or Mr Muselk, he became famous for playing Team Fortress 2 and Fortnite.

He livestreamed commentary for other games and built up a business which today has 9.28 million subscribers.

In 2017, he co-founded Click Management – a talent and brand management company for gaming and technology influencers – with his older sister Grace, a chartered accountant.

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Watkins pictured with his girlfriend, Liv Bevan celebrating his 25th birthday. Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram
Watkins pictured with his girlfriend, Liv Bevan celebrating his 25th birthday. Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram

It represents some of the country's biggest gamers and since the Covid-19 lockdown, viewing numbers have risen by between 30 and 60 per cent.

Now 25, the former Geelong Grammar boy has just bought a A$9.28m waterfront house in Tamarama in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

His Click Management YouTube channel is filled with truth or dare challenges, amusing videos, live gameplays with, say, Fortnite guns, all done with Elliott and a team of gamers and video makers.

He is one of the most influential figures in Australia's gaming community and the videos are viewed more than a million times a day.

The 25-year-old uploads everything from tutorials and vlogs to videos of himself playing video games. Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram
The 25-year-old uploads everything from tutorials and vlogs to videos of himself playing video games. Photo / Elliot Watkins, Instagram

Elliott has partnered with brands including Samsung, EA (Electronic Arts) and HP (Hewlett Packard) and has his own Muselk brand of merchandise.

Watkins, who credits his channel's popularity to knowing what young people want, has also worked as a presenter in Disney's weekly TV show, Gamefest.

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