A YouTube logo hangs on the wall at the YouTube Podcast Awards ceremony in Berlin (Christophe Gateau/Getty Images)

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Just how huge is YouTube, anyway?

Google’s video platform is now the world’s largest media company, per new MoffettNathanson research.

3/10/26 12:52PM

YouTube is an entertainment behemoth. This much we know and had done for a while, even before it routinely started cropping up as the biggest thing on TVs, emerged as the leading platform in the ever-expanding podosphere, and steadily built an ad business that has (by itself) become almost Netflix-sized.

Now, according to new research from industry analysts at MoffettNathanson, the Alphabet-owned property has grown to become the biggest media company in the world, per fresh revenue estimates for the latest fiscal year.

Walt who?

MoffettNathanson estimates that YouTube brought in some $62.3 billion in revenue across 2025 — a sensible estimate, given that Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that YouTube sales “surpassed $60 billion across ads and subscriptions” in prepared remarks from the company’s Q4 earnings call just last month.

What it would also mean, however, is that YouTube notched higher revenues last year than Disney did across its media properties (what’s left of the business after its gargantuan Experiences segment is stripped out), perhaps making it “the world’s largest media company.”

Top media companies revenue chart — Sherwood News

For its last fiscal year, Disney’s Entertainment and Sports categories — which cover everything from the $6.58 billion its movies took at the global box office in 2025, to the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN subscription fees that users pay each month — brought in $60.2 billion between them. While that puts Disney’s media haul way ahead of the money that Netflix and other competitors brought in, it also places the company about $2 billion short of YouTube.

Of course, a lot of that YouTube money doesn’t necessarily end up in GOOG’s pocket, as the company splits as much as 55% of its advertising revenue with creators. Indeed, Alphabet said it paid YouTubers a staggering $100 billion in just four years through September 2025, owing to its various revenue splits with the users that fill the site with content. No wonder MrBeast is always smiling like that in his thumbnails.

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JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

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Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”

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GM has reportedly rehired more than 100 former Cruise employees, 18 months after shuttering the robotaxi unit

GM has rehired more than 100 employees it let go early last year when it shuttered Cruise, its former robotaxi business, according to reporting by The Information.

The hiring spree, which also includes employees from Nvidia and Uber, is geared toward ramping up GM’s plans for personal-use self-driving vehicles and not robotaxis. The former had been the focus of Cruise, prior to GM shuttering it in 2024.

Reporting last fall revealed that GM was attempting to rehire some former Cruise employees, but the scope of that effort wasn’t clear. More than 1,000 employees were laid off when the automaker scrapped Cruise, which it invested $10 billion into.

Google’s Waymo, Cruise’s former chief rival, is now worth $126 billion after a $16 billion funding round earlier this year. The company says it’s serving 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US.