What is KevJumba’s Net Worth?
KevJumba is a Taiwanese-American comedian, YouTube personality, actor, director, writer, and producer who has a net worth of $4 million. KevJumba, also known as Kevin Wu, became an internet sensation while attending the University of California, Davis, and subsequently left school in order to focus on his career.
He began posting videos to YouTube about his experiences as an Asian American in 2007, and as his popularity increased, he also began posting videos of his father, known as PapaJumba. His “KEVIN” YouTube channel has 2.65 million subscribers, though as of this writing, the channel is displaying the message “This channel doesn’t have any content.”
In early 2023, KevJumba posted a video titled “Youtube, Starting from Scratch” in which he said he would begin posting videos again, but he later made the video private. He has appeared in the films “Hang Loose” (2012), “Rock Jocks” (2012), “Revenge of the Green Dragons” (2014), “Man Up” (2015), and “Twinsters” (2015), and in 2010, he competed on “The Amazing Race” with his father, finishing in seventh place. KevJumba directed the 2012 miniseries “The Most Awesomest Fashion Show,” and he wrote and produced “Hang Loose” and “Man Up.”
(Photo by Jonathan Leibson/WireImage)
Early Life
KevJumba was born Kevin Wu on June 12, 1990, in Houston, Texas. His father, Michael, immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan and works as a computer engineer. KevJumba attended Clements High School in Sugar Land, graduating in 2008, then he spent two years at the University of California, Davis. He later enrolled at the University of Houston, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019.
Career
KevJumba joined YouTube in 2006, and the following year he gained popularity after his video “I Have to Deal With Stereotypes” was featured on the homepage. By 2008, his channel was the third most subscribed YouTube channel. “The Hollywood Reporter” said of KevJumba, “The Houston native’s self-deprecating vlogs about the indignities of being an Asian-American teen generated more than 300 million views and led to collaborations with Jessica Alba and Jeremy Lin.” KevJumba’s popularity inspired him to drop out of college to create videos full-time, and he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived with fellow YouTubers such as Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval and Ryan Higa. He signed a contract with the CAA talent agency in 2011. “The Hollywood Reporter” article stated of this time in his life, “CAA set Wu up with acting coaches, auditions and meetings with noteworthy producers, including one who began developing a TV comedy based on his relationship with his family. There were talks with content producers both traditional (Cartoon Network) and digital (Xbox Entertainment Studios, which shuttered in 2014). Brands paid him five figures for three-minute videos.”
In 2011, KevJumba started performing with Yesterday, Today, Forever (YTF) alongside other YouTube personalities. In 2012, he began appearing in videos on the YouTube channel “YOMYOMF.” He has starred in the web series “Funemployed” and “KevJumba Takes All,” and “Funemployed” was viewed 500,000 times within a few weeks of release. He stopped posting YouTube videos in 2013, but in 2022, he started posting videos of himself performing music to his YouTube channel, which is now titled “KEVIN” instead of “KevJumba.” He later deleted those videos. KevJumba has also appeared on The CW series “Online Nation” (2007) and the HBOLabs web series “Hooking Up” (2008), and he starred in the 2014 Martin Scorsese-produced crime drama “Revenge of the Green Dragons.” He starred in, co-wrote, and produced the 2012 film “Hang Loose,” which won awards at the National Film Society Awards and VC FilmFest – Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
(Photo by Michael Bezjian/WireImage)
Personal Life
In January 2022, KevJumba posted a video to Instagram in which he proposed to his girlfriend, with the caption “I did it! She said yes!!!” In June 2015, KevJumba was hit by a car in Los Angeles and suffered a broken spine and collapsed lungs. He underwent two major surgeries, and he told “The Hollywood Reporter” in 2017, “My mood started to swing because every time they found something wrong with my body, I was trying to downplay it.” The article stated, “He eventually was assessed as a hazard to himself and spent 17 days at a behavioral health facility following his monthlong hospitalization.”
In 2009, KevJumba launched a new YouTube channel, “JumbaFund,” with the goal of donating its earnings to charitable organizations that were suggested by viewers. In 2011, the nonprofit organization The Supply invited him to teach English in Kenya. He posted videos of his trip on the “JumbaFund” YouTube channel and donated more than $5,000 in ad revenue to the charity, which The Supply put toward the cost of building the Jumba Lenana Academy. “JumbaFund” also donated money to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Red Cross before KevJumba decided to dedicate the channel’s revenue solely to the Jumba Lenana Academy in 2012. Construction of the school was completed in 2013, and the name was changed to KevJumba High School. “JumbaFund” donated over $50,000 to the school’s construction.
Awards
“Hang Loose” earned KevJumba a Special Jury Prize for Best Newcomer at the 2012 VC FilmFest – Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and he and his co-star Dante Basco were named Best Duo at the 2013 National Film Society Awards. In 2013, he was honored with the 47th Visionary Award from the Los Angeles-based theatre organization the East West Players, the country’s oldest Asian Pacific American theatre company. The East West Players’ Producing Artistic Director, Tim Dang, said of the decision to present the award to KevJumba, “Kevin is a great example of the ‘next generation’ taking the lead to raise the visibility of Asian Americans through new media and the art of comedy. At a relatively young age, he has achieved a level of recognition that has garnered a new and vital audience. He is also an innovative philanthropist, leveraging his celebrity to engage his audience in giving to charity and building his own school in Kenya through his JumbaFund YouTube channel.”
