MICHELLE PHAN made her name as a fashion YouTuber before making the unusual switch to becoming a crypto influencer.
But what’s the story behind the beauty blogger turned Bitcoin evangelist? And what’s her net worth?
Who is Michelle Phan?
Michelle Phan was born on April 11, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts to Vietnamese immigrants.
She grew up in Tampa, Florida, before attending the state’s Ringling College of Art and Design. However, she was forced to drop out before completing her degree due to financial difficulties – not that it held her back.
At the age of just 20, in 2007 Phan set up her own YouTube channel based on make-up advice. The content proved to be a success, with her subscriber count quickly growing.
“Two hundred thousand people want my advice,” she said in 2009 as she confessed to her shock at the explosion of interest in her content.
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Nearly 15 years on, that figure of 200,000 now looks small fry, with almost nine million people subscribing to Phan’s YouTube channel as of April 2023.
Following the interest in her videos, in 2010 Phan signed a deal with beauty brand Lancôme in which she posted monthly beauty tutorials using the brand’s make-up.
In the same year she also founded her own company, Ipsy. The firm offers customers subscription cosmetics boxes.
Phan teamed up with L’Oreal to create a cosmetic line called EM Cosmetics in 2013, and bought the brand from the beauty-giant in 2016.
In 2015 Forbes listed Phan in its prestigious 30 Under 30 list, and she was also awarded the Shorty Award for Best YouTube Guru.
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Michelle Phan on Bitcoin
After her success in the cosmetics sector, Michelle Phan became interested in cryptocurrency and started investing in Bitcoin in the late 2010s.
“I’m actually more excited about Bitcoin than I was when I first discovered YouTube,” she said in an interview in 2019.
“It’s probably the most important investment you can ever make in your life.”
Phan said she saw a lot of similarities between Bitcoin and Youtube.
“I am a lover of decentralisation,” she explained.
“YouTube is decentralised, in the sense that anyone can have a channel, have their own network, and make their own content.
“It’s not run by any higher authority power. It’s not a company. There are no board members. For the first time in history, you can be your own bank. We’ve never had that before.”
In a tweet in 2018 she explained that while she had been mocked for her love of crypto, she believed she would be “having the last laugh”.
She said: “10 years ago, I was ridiculed for quitting my job to pursue my YouTube channel. No one saw the potential in the platform like I did.
“Years later, I was ridiculed again for investing in BTC and ETH.”
Who is Michelle Phan’s boyfriend?
For years Michelle Phan’s boyfriend was Swiss model Dominique Capraro. The pair first started dating in 2010 and Capraro would regularly appear on Phan’s YouTube channel.
However, it is thought that the pair are no longer together.
What is Michelle Phan’s net worth?
Michelle Phan is thought to have a net worth of as much as $50million. Much of her net worth comes not from cryptocurrency but from Ipsy.
