Facts You May Not Know About KSI

At only 23 years old, KSI has taken his obsession with playing video games and cultivated one of the most successful, lucrative, and multifaceted careers in the digital era. Since rising quickly to stardom in 2009 as a FIFA football series gamer, commentator, and vlogger, the British YouTube personality has branched out into acting, comedy, writing, and music. However, over the last few years, due to some of his more lewd and sexual humor, he's also become one of YouTube's most controversial young stars.

Basically, there is much more to this outlandish vlogging millionaire than meets the eye, and since KSI shows no signs of slowing down in 2017, it may be fun and worthwhile to uncover some things of which even his most devoted fans may not be aware!

According to Celebrity Net Worth, KSI reportedly has a net worth of $3 million. As with many people who have quickly earned that kind of cash, KSI is exceedingly aware of how lucky he is, as disclosed in an interview with the Telegraph. "I have to pinch myself sometimes...I am living a lifestyle most guys my age would love to lead, playing computer games and earning good money," he said.

But when KSI dropped out of high school following the beginnings of his YouTuber career, his parents, with whom he lived during that time in Watford, were incensed. As explained in this same interview, he was deeply unhappy in school, but was earning about £1500 per month playing video games and uploading videos, more cash than his own teacher. Still, they couldn't believe his decision to quit his education: "They said this is the dumbest thing you have ever done, you are going to throw your life away, why would you just want to play games, you can't make money from games, it's stupid." Now that he's proven otherwise, their tune has since changed. "Now they have completely changed," he told the Telegraph. "They're doing videos with me and my brother all the time and they completely get it."

KSI reportedly now lives in an extravagant home in Kent and admittedly likes to splurge a bit, such as on a collection of gold shoes (as mentioned in Business Insider) and his £260,000 Lamborghini Aventador (as attributed in The Sun). He tells the Telegraph, "I bought the car last year...I hardly ever splash so I thought I might as well get something really good." But he's wise enough to know that this wave may not last forever, as he continues, "I guess I spend my money quite wisely...I am trying to make sure that I don't spend on ridiculous things, so that after all this YouTube thing goes I'm not left there, like, 'uh oh, I have nothing.'"

KSI embodies a collaborative, creative spirit and is notoriously supportive of his fellow YouTubers' channels and careers. His younger brother, Deji Olatunji, is also a YouTube personality who goes by the name of ComedyShortsGamer. KSI and Deji often appear in one another's videos as an endearing display of simultaneous sibling rivalry and love (mum and dad even pop in from time to time in enjoyable cameos). In 2015, they were respectively ranked #1 and #2 on a list of the UK's Most Influential YouTube Creators.

His gaming group, The Ultimate Sidemen, was created in 2013 and consists of his fellow gamers and closest friends: Tobi Brown (TBJZL); Vikram Barn (Vikkstar123); Simon Minter (miniminter); Josh Bradley (Zerkaa); Ethan Payne (Behzinga); and Harold Lewis (wroetoshaw), who later joined in 2014. In addition to their charity work and YouTube collaborations, the group also has an internet TV show for Comedy Central UK called The Sidemen Experience, and released a book in 2016 called Sidemen: The Book.

Following a recent trend in YouTuber book deals, KSI's September 2015 HarperCollins-published book I Am A Bellend (alternatively, I Am A Tool in the US) made fairly impressive sales on both sides of the Atlantic, debuting at #23 on The Official UK Top 50 list. Described by HarperCollins as "a hilarious, in-your-face guide to the online universe from the wildly popular YouTube sensation and undisputed BEAST of the Internet, KSI," this "all-out assault on the online universe" is a survival guide to the internet age. It managed to take KSI's unprecedented, rapid-fire, and controversial style and condense it into a more traditional medium.

But is this a path on which he's willing to continue? In a charming thank-you video following the book's release and tour, he admitted that despite his pride in and excitement about the book, the old-school format and means of publishing content was not necessarily conducive to his quick-paced, improvisational style: "As a YouTuber, I like to make something and put it out. That's just how I am: Make, put, make, put. So that's why it's annoying, because I never get ahead of anything...This was done, and I had to wait a couple of months for it to just come out...but finally, you guys! I've got the book," he said.

In the age of the geek-chic, KSI may just be the coolest nerd around – which in and of itself is saying something. But underneath all the zany bravado is a down to earth kid who just really loves video games. As he tells the Irish Examiner, "I'm a really nice guy when you meet me and that surprises a lot of people. I'm not that eccentric in real life – and certainly not that disrespectful. In my own time I like to just chill out with friends and not get in people's faces."

But he's well aware that his more real and mellow side may not create the most entertainingly fresh content on the internet, and even prescribes that it'd simply be "boring." Still, old habits prevail, and he's admitted in the same interview that, "to this day I still watch the Dragon Ball Z cartoons – that genuinely excites me. I'm really looking forward to the new Pokemon app coming out next year as well. I'll probably do a video on it."

And his association with FIFA is something of which he'll never tire: "I would say in a year I spend maybe half of that playing FIFA. I love it that much. I think I must have spent 200 hours on the new game already," he said. He was also noticeably shocked when given the chance to play it with some of his favorite footballers, such as Rio Ferdinand, Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczęsny, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as he explains further to the publication: "It was amazing that playing FIFA had got me into that position."

Having covered his multiple accomplishments, good deeds, and strong presence in the digital world, no discussion of KSI is complete without acknowledging the controversies spiraling out of his work. Most famously, Eurogamer reported that KSI was accused of allegedly sexually harassing women attending the Eurogamer Expo in 2012. This was documented in video evidence that KSI himself edited and uploaded onto YouTube. (The video was later withdrawn).

Soon after, he was banned from attending any future Eurogamer events, and the controversy spread so deep that former corporation sponsors, including Microsoft, cut all promotional ties with him. An apology was issued on his behalf by his manager following this incident: "KSI is a character of Olatunji, a young man with great humility and politeness and far from the character portrayed in the Eurogamer video. Sexism is not something he condones or wants to be associated with," the statement read, according to Eurogamer.

However, KSI has since been widely criticized for his actions; according to Gaming @ The Digital Fix, the incident has left many in the gaming community, in particular, with severe doubts as to whether he learned his lesson at all. Indeed, the Eurogamer event was not an isolated incident, as KSI has allegedly exhibited similar behavior through his many media outlets. For example, his most popular running joke since his earliest videos is called "Rape Face". When performing this bit, he peers directly into the camera with a predatory or playful expression while music, sound effects, and graphics accompany his voice over, which asserts, among other phrases, "You're getting raped today – LOL!"

Additionally, in a video collaboration with Caspar Lee that has since been deleted, KSI graphically described his desire to have sex with Lee's sister, Theodora. In a response video called "Breaking the Silence" (also later taken down), she expressed her discomfort, hurt, and embarrassment by being publicly objectified like this, as documented by SuperFrame.com: "KSI talked about me in a derogatory and sexist way...I'm ashamed of it. His video happened to set a great example of society, where women are treated as objects, put down by men, and spoken about in a derogatory way."