Rich Dudes│How Kyle Forgeard Went From YouTube Prankster to Entrepreneur with a Million-Dollar Net Worth

Kyle John Forgeard is a Canadian YouTuber and the co-founder and star of the Nelk Boys YouTube channel. Starting with simple-yet-clever prank videos, Kyle eventually reached viral internet stardom, and his YouTube channel has garnered over seven million subscribers.

His success as a YouTuber, coupled with ad revenue, Full Send Entertainment merch campaigns, and other businesses have amassed him a $1.5 million net worth.

A real-life jack-of-all-trades, Forgeard’s success is due to his hard work, creativity, and unorthodox methods, like dropping out of Ryerson University and dedicating himself to content creation full-time. 

Most of his money comes from premium memberships, advertisements, and merchandise sales. The NELK boys aren’t just passive earners—they make conscious decisions to build their wealth and help others by donating to philanthropic causes and helping people in need.

Kyle Forgeard net worth at a glance

Kyle Forgeard's journey to his first million dollars was an interesting one. He was a YouTuber and video producer who, with the help of his co-founders, started the entertainment business NELK in 2010. They first went viral in 2015 by pulling a coke prank on cops. The police laughed the prank off, but the video went viral, launching Kyle’s fame.

At 28 years old, he has reached an estimated net worth of $1.5 million. His YouTube channel NELK has over seven million subscribers where they post prank videos, challenges, and funny stuff—even if the channel eventually got demonetized.

Kyle also hosts the Full Send Podcast, attracting high-profile guests from athletes like Mike Tyson and OJ Simpson, to entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Billy McFarlane, and even former president Donald Trump.

Kyle Forgeard's million-dollar journey doesn’t end there. He also launched a clothing merchandise business called Full Send. Kyle said the name of the brand “started out meaning party hard, but now it’s evolved into ‘any activity you do, give it your absolute best.’”

Kyle couldn’t have done it all without the help of his parents Rick and Gayle Forgeard who took out a $100,000 mortgage on their house to help fund his first merch drop that started it all.

Faced with a blossoming empire and over $70 million in combined yearly income, Kyle Forgeard and the NELK Boys sure knew how to put their money to work. Instead of spending it all on avocado toast and fancy cars, they chose to invest in an array of different assets, ranging from real estate to NFTs and their own hard seltzer brand.

Their Full Send merchandise earned them a hefty $50 million in 2020—not too shabby for a group of pranksters turned entrepreneurs. The NELK Boys got involved in crypto around that time, investing millions of dollars in bitcoin and a range of other digital assets.

Their strategy seems to have paid off with the group’s income possibly surpassing the $100 million mark. Simply put, Kyle Forgeard and his crew are playing with the big boys, and their investing acumen means they’re guaranteed to stay there, at least for the foreseeable future.

Startups

Digging deeper into Kyle Forgeard’s net worth, he and the Nelk boys have been incredibly successful at making a killing by starting new businesses.

Most of Kyle Foregeard’s net worth was built after launching the lifestyle brand Full Send in 2020, which was on track to hit $70 million in annual revenue the following year. 

Full Send clothing is sold in limited drops, making it scarce and hard to purchase. This exclusive release model has increased the brand's notoriety and made it highly sought-after, with most drops selling out within a day or two.

All in all, Forgeard created a thriving ecosystem of businesses within and outside of YouTube.

The alcoholic beverage industry has had quite a ride. Happy Dad is competing for beer market share, which is the dominant drink in the U.S. at 42.5% of all sales. Wine has also seen a rise in popularity. In 2022, prices of top collectible wines went up around 9.3%, according to the Liv-Ex 1000 index.

NFTs

Aside from making exciting videos and getting new YouTube channel subscribers, Kyle Forgeard and his folks at Full Send sure know how to make a splash in web3. 

Their blockbuster Metacard NFT project launched in January 2021 and was able to bring in a staggering $23 million. The Full Send Metacard NFT by the Nelk Boys is an animated video of a slowly turning 3D model branded card that provides exclusive access to merch drops and real-life events. 

The Full Send Metacard NFT is a limited-edition collection of 10,000 NFTs and currently has a floor price of 0.423 ETH. With a total of 6,770 unique holders, the NFT collection is well distributed and doesn’t likely have a high concentration of whales.

NFT investments had quite the roller coaster in 2022. From January to September, the total transaction volume dropped an astonishing 97% from a sky-high $17 billion to a mere $466 million.

Even the biggest NFT trading platform OpenSea saw a 99% drop from its peak in May 2022. While it was a bumpy ride for NFTs in 2022, the future looks bright for long-term players, with the bull run likely to kick off in no time.

Real Estate

Between launching blockchain projects and starting businesses, Kyle and the Nelk boys have also dipped their toes into the real estate market, making what seems to be a wise investment when they purchased a brand new 9,713 square foot house worth $9 million in April 2021.

Located around Newport Beach, California, Kyle Forgeard makes $27,000 a month from leasing out the house and will be able to write off the property as a business expense. The home includes a luxury backyard, pool, and jacuzzi, all while avoiding the expensive $73,000 in estimated annual property taxes. 

What Kyle and his boys have done here is nothing short of wise investing. It’s a great example of investing in real estate and enjoying the benefits of running a business out of it to skirt around costly property taxes.

In 2022, global real estate performed well overall despite considerable market uncertainties. Demand for commercial spaces bumped up as vacancy rates fell to an all-time low of 4.2% for retail. This resulted in substantially higher rent rates, which means more passive income in their owners' bank accounts. 

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, it's expected that the multifamily housing sector will remain solid and regain momentum later this year. As for the office sector, it'll keep adjusting to improve the occupant experience and attract more people back to work. Commercial real estate, like the facilities where Happy Dad is made, is likely to see positive performance as vacancy rates decrease and rents keep growing. 

Overall, real estate has been a great investment over the past 25 years, with annual average returns of 10.3% according to NCREIF. So whether it's residential, commercial, or a diversified portfolio of both, you can't go wrong with real estate.

1. Know your worth

2. Learn your market

3. Don't overthink your ideas