In mid-October 2026 (latest captures available, from 2 August to 11 October), The Diary of a CEO has about 20.4M subscribers, ahead of Patrick Bet-David and Ali Abdaal. Mel Robbins gains two places. Here is the dated ranking of business creators, what changed since the end of 2025 and what their Shorts teach a consultant or coach.
How we ranked them
One criterion for all four years of the series: subscribers of the creator’s YouTube channel, where they also publish their Shorts. The figure is read on the web.archive.org capture of the channel closest to 31 December 2026 (for 2026, the latest capture available, between 2 August and 11 October 2026 depending on the creator). Every figure in the table links to its capture and gives its date: they do not all fall on 31 December, some a little before, others a little after.
Three limits, stated upfront. First, YouTube only shows rounded numbers, so read every figure as “about”. Second, these are the subscribers of the whole channel (long videos, podcasts and Shorts), not of Shorts alone: YouTube does not publish that. Third, the ranking covers the 18 business creators whose channel we could read on at least one usable capture; other well-known names, such as Tony Robbins, Codie Sanchez or Sahil Bloom, have no readable capture of their channel and are therefore not ranked.
We kept creators who teach business, sales, marketing, leadership, money or productivity. We left out creators a platform has expelled, and we included no creator we knew to face criminal proceedings. The criterion is the number of subscribers, not the quality of the advice.
The top 10 business creators in vertical video, mid-October 2026
| Rank | Creator (channel) | Platform | What they teach | Channel subscribers (capture) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Bartlett (The Diary Of A CEO) | YouTube | entrepreneurship, through an interview podcast | about 20.4M (11 Oct 2026) |
| 2 | Patrick Bet-David (Valuetainment) | YouTube | entrepreneurship and capitalism, for entrepreneurs, founders and leaders | about 7.16M (2 Aug 2026) |
| 3 | Ali Abdaal | YouTube | productivity, personal development and building an independent business | about 6.7M (9 Oct 2026) |
| 4 | Mel Robbins | YouTube | confidence and taking action, as author and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast | about 6.3M (11 Oct 2026) |
| 5 | Iman Gadzhi | YouTube | building an online advertising agency, told from the inside | about 6.2M (3 Oct 2026) |
| 6 | Graham Stephan | YouTube | real estate, personal finance and investing | about 5.18M (1 Oct 2026) |
| 7 | Lewis Howes | YouTube | success, through interviews with business leaders and athletes | about 5.02M (3 Oct 2026) |
| 8 | Jay Shetty | YouTube | purpose, as author and host of the On Purpose podcast | about 4.89M (27 Aug 2026) |
| 9 | Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee) | YouTube | marketing, social media and life as a CEO | about 4.88M (25 Sep 2026) |
| 10 | Tom Bilyeu (Impact Theory) | YouTube | finance, technology and mindset, through interviews | about 4.64M (9 Sep 2026) |
Mind the dates: Patrick Bet-David’s capture is from 2 August 2026, Jay Shetty’s from 27 August and Tom Bilyeu’s from 9 September, while the others are from October. The 11th, Alex Hormozi (capture of 11 Oct 2026), has about 4.56M subscribers, 0.08M fewer than the tenth, Tom Bilyeu (about 4.64M, capture of 9 September): on different dates, the order between them is not established. His channel gained 0.74M in under a year.
What moved since 2025?
The same ten creators as in 2025: no entry, no exit. The ranks shift a little.
- Steven Bartlett: 1st → 1st (+6.2M subscribers in a year)
- Patrick Bet-David: 2nd → 2nd (+0.07M subscribers in a year)
- Ali Abdaal: 3rd → 3rd (+0.19M subscribers in a year)
- Mel Robbins: 6th → 4th (+1.34M subscribers in a year)
- Iman Gadzhi: 4th → 5th (+0.36M subscribers in a year)
- Graham Stephan: 5th → 6th (+0.04M subscribers in a year)
- Lewis Howes: 7th (tied) → 7th (+0.16M subscribers in a year)
- Jay Shetty: 7th (tied) → 8th (+0.03M subscribers in a year)
- Gary Vaynerchuk: 9th → 9th (+0.12M subscribers in a year)
- Tom Bilyeu: 10th → 10th (+0.03M subscribers in a year)
Who are they, and what do their Shorts teach?
The channel descriptions and Shorts titles quoted come from 2026 captures: they describe recent habits.
Steven Bartlett (1st). Forbes puts him 3rd on its 2026 list of top creators, all subjects combined. His channel gained 6.2M subscribers since the end of 2025. Takeaway: his lead over the 2nd (about 7.16M) is nearly threefold; it was built on three years of continuous growth.
Mel Robbins (4th) and Iman Gadzhi (5th). Mel Robbins moves ahead of Iman Gadzhi, with about 6.3M against 6.2M. One publishes a podcast signed “Mel Robbins” in the title of her Shorts, the other tells his entrepreneur’s path. Takeaway: a name as a signature or a personal story, two ways to be recognised.
Graham Stephan (6th), Lewis Howes (7th), Jay Shetty (8th). Three very stable channels: Jay Shetty goes from 4.86M to 4.89M. Graham Stephan’s Shorts start from concrete cases (“Girlfriend’s Debt Takes 26 Years To Pay Off”). Takeaway: a case with figures needs no explanation.
Gary Vaynerchuk (9th). He goes from 4.76M to 4.88M: slow growth, on a channel whose owner has more than 45M followers across his social channels according to his description. Takeaway: do not compare your audience to the sum of someone else’s networks.
Alex Hormozi (11th). Many expect him in this ranking; he stays just behind the tenth. His Shorts remain quoted client questions (““How Do I 3X My Business?””). Takeaway: his channel is growing faster than the tenth’s (see above).
Codie Sanchez is not ranked, for lack of a readable capture of her channel, but Forbes puts her 10th on its 2026 list and says she teaches small-business tips to more than 7 million followers across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Long conversations, short clips
Among the top five, three creators host a podcast or interview show according to their descriptions: Steven Bartlett, Patrick Bet-David and Mel Robbins. We did not re-read each clip to know which conversation it comes from; the titles we read are key sentences and questions.
What it means for you
The top of the ranking has not changed in three years, but the gap has widened around an interview format. For a consultant or coach, the raw material already exists: your exchanges with clients.
What next?
Most of these channels rest on long conversations from which they cut short clips: your calls are the same raw material. For the length and framing of those clips, see how long a short should be and the 9:16 vertical video format. Dailies Studio turns your calls into vertical shorts and publishes them on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn and TikTok: see what it is.
Sources
Pages read on 15 October 2026.
- web.archive.org captures of the channels, one per creator: Steven Bartlett (11 Oct 2026), Patrick Bet-David (2 Aug 2026), Ali Abdaal (9 Oct 2026), Mel Robbins (11 Oct 2026), Iman Gadzhi (3 Oct 2026), Graham Stephan (1 Oct 2026), Lewis Howes (3 Oct 2026), Jay Shetty (27 Aug 2026), Gary Vaynerchuk (25 Sep 2026), Tom Bilyeu (9 Sep 2026).
- Channel descriptions: the 2026 captures linked in the text; Shorts tabs: captures from 9 June to 22 September 2026 linked in the text.
- Forbes, Top Creators lists 2025 and 2026: Steven Bartlett and his interview show.
- Wikipedia, Patrick Bet-David: his podcast and guests.