Ryan Kaji’s mother, aged 7, was convicted of shoplifting and was sentenced to a year in prison.
Ryan’s parents are secretive about Ryan’s true identity. Kaji is a screen name they created for themselves. Ryan and his family live in Cypress, Texas 25 miles northwest Houston.
Shion Guan, a former structural engineer, is now the father of the son. He drives a Porsche Macan GT3 SUV worth $80,000 to the production studio that his family purchased in Houston suburbs in 2017. The purchase cost $1.2 million.
Loan Guan, a former teacher of high school chemistry, is the one who created the YouTube channel.
Loan splits her time between managing the four family companies and caring for Ryan, his twin sisters Emma and Kate, who are two years old.
The Guans have three other properties in the area, including a 6,200-square-foot house with large swimming pool.
A 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house in a gated community is also theirs. They also have a $1 million five-bedroom, 5-bathroom home, and a $190,000 three bedroom home that they bought in 2014.
Shion Guan, 31, and Loan Guan, 35 (left and centre), are the parents Ryan Haruto Guan, better known as Ryan Kaji on YouTube. Loan, then Kieu-Loan Thi Nguyen, was arrested on May 4, 2003 for violating a probation order that had been imposed in 2002 after she was caught stealing clothes from JC Penney’s Almeda Mall, Houston.
The Guans’ ‘Ryan’s World’ brand, which includes toothpaste, mandarin Oranges, and television shows, earned them $22 million last fiscal year. Ryan promotes his toys at Walmart.
The son’s video review of toys has been viewed more than 30 Billion times. This makes him YouTube’s most powerful influencer and entrepreneur.
Forbes Financial magazine calculated that the family made $22 million last year, with 80 brands being licensed under his family’s ‘Ryan’s World’ brand empire, which includes toothpaste, mandarin oranges and television shows.
A DailyMail.com investigation reveals that Loan nearly ended her life before “Ryan’s World” made her millions. She was arrested for stealing.
Kieu-Loan Thi Nguyen was born in April 1984. She is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants.
The 18-year-old University of Houston student was found shoplifting in a JC Penney departmental store in Houston’s Almeda Mall. It happened close to her family home.
Security personnel discovered that Loan tried to steal six pieces of clothing worth $93. They held her until Houston police arrived to arrest her and bring her to trial.
Harris County Criminal Court could have sent her to jail for 60 days, the maximum sentence for class B misdemeanours. But they initially relaxed with Loan after she was seen by them a week later, on July 5.
Ryan Haruto was one when he posed with his parents Loan Guan and Shion Guian in October 2012.
She was fined $150 and placed on non-custodial probation for six months. She was required to perform 40 hours of community service and submit for random urine testing.
A card was issued to her as an offender identification card, which she must carry with her at all times. She also had to participate in an anti-shoplifting program.
Loan had other plans. Loan chose not to report to the community supervisor, perform community service, or pay supervision fees.
Loan was arrested by police in Pearland (a suburb of Houston) for violating his probation order on May 4, 2003.
Loan was sentenced to 60 days imprisonment at Houston’s Harris County Jail on June 6. She was sentenced to 30 days.
Loan was released from jail and enrolled at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
She met Shion Guan in September 2009 through mutual friends. Shion Guan is almost four years younger than her and has been studying civil engineering since she moved to Texas from Japan.
Shion was a popular student at Texas Tech and spent his spare time playing computer games as well as the card game Magic: The Gathering.
The family lives in Cypress, Texas with six bedrooms. It is located 25 miles northwest from Houston. It is valued at $1 million
Shion Guan, 31, drives a Porsche Macan GTE3 SUV worth $80,000 to get to and fro the production studio that her family purchased in Houston’s suburbs in 2017.
A 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house with $1 million value that the Guans own in Cypress, Texas, is also their primary residence.
A modest $190,000 three bedroom home with three bedrooms that they also own was purchased by them in Cypress, Texas, in 2014.
In 2017, the Guans purchased this large production studio in Houston suburbs for $1.2million. This is where Ryan’s content is made.
In November 2009, Shion and Loan were married. The couple continued to be together, despite Loan’s graduation from the university with a bachelor of arts and sciences degree in 2010.
Their son Ryan Haruto Nguyen, was born on September 27, 2011.
In April 2012, Loan received a Texas educator’s certificate and was able to teach high school chemistry. She was also certified to teach English as an additional language.
After completing his Texas Tech degree, Shion went on to study transportation engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca (New York), where he received a master’s in engineering.
He returned to Houston with his newly obtained degree and married Loan the following year. He began his career as a structural engineer.
After watching videos from EvanTubeHD, Loan was able to see the potential of YouTube making money.
The family started Ryan ToysReview YouTube channel in March 2015. It featured their three-year old son reviewing and unboxing toys.
Ryan reviews an easter egg from Pixar’s ‘Cars’ in a single post four months after its launch. It has been viewed 980 million times.
Soon, the channel was so popular that Loan quit her teaching job to produce the videos full-time.
Love at first sight: Shion Guan (left), met his bride-to be Loan (right) at this Texas Tech University party in September 2009.
Shion Guan was married to Loan in November 2009. Despite Loan’s graduation from the university with a bachelor of arts and sciences in 2010, the couple continued to live together. Their son Ryan Haruto Nguyen, was born on September 27, 2011.
The channel was the most popular in America by September 2016. It had 4 million subscribers, and its videos had been viewed 6.5 billion times.
YouTube generates revenue in different ways, but YouTube will pay popular channels $7 for every 1,000 clicks.
Ryan Loan, her son’s YouTube host, is credited with recognizing the potential for money-making through setting up a YouTube channel.
Forbes named Ryan as the eighth highest-paid YouTube entrepreneur. He generated $11 million through 2016.
Ryan’s parents filed a court order to adjudicate parentage in 2017 so that their son could use Guan, his father’s last initial, officially.
He was born before his parents were married. According to Texan law, he could use Nguyen as his mother’s maiden name because he was not yet married.
After Shion’s testimony, Ryan Haruto Guan was made his father.
Later that year, the fortunes of the Guan family soared when they signed a deal to market ‘Ryan’s World’ items with brand licensing company Pocket.watch.
The family currently has seven YouTube channels and 30,000,000 subscribers. There are also 80 deals available through Pocket.watch.
Colgate has launched a range of ‘Ryan’s World Kids Oral Care’ products. Walmart sells Ryan’s World Pajamas as well as ‘Ryan’s World’ mandarin Oranges.
Pocket.watch has 80 deals with the Guan family, which includes a range of Colgate ‘Ryan’s World Kids Oral Care’ products.
Carl’s Jr, a fast food restaurant, sells Ryan’s Star Pal Kid’s Meal Toys
Pocket.watch employs 60 people for the Guan family. It has also made deals to create Ryan’s World Ultimate Guide magazine and Ryan’s Mystery Playdate TV show on Nick Jr.
Fast food chain Carl’s Jr has Ryan’s Star Pal Kid’s Meal Toys, while “Race With Ryan”, a kart racing game for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, will be available in November.
According to court documents, Loan was sentenced to 60-days in prison for failing to complete community service regarding shoplifting on June 6, 2003.
It was announced Monday that Truth in Advertising, a consumer watchdog, had filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission regarding the channel Ryan ToysReview.
Harris County Jail, Houston – Loan for 30 days
Truth in Advertising stated that the channel’s viewership is mostly children younger than five years old and did not clearly state that some toys featured were manufactured by advertisers.
Although the Federal Trade Commission has yet to respond, Shion Guan issued a statement.
He stated, “The well-being and safety of our viewers is always our highest priority.” We are committed to creating content that is appropriate and safe for young viewers and their families.
“We aim to create quality, engaging content, including skits.
“We strictly adhere to all platforms’ terms and conditions and all laws and regulations. This includes advertising disclosure requirements.
“As the streaming industry continues to grow rapidly and evolve, we support efforts of lawmakers, industry representatives and regulators like the FTC to continuously assess and update existing guidelines, as well as lay new ground rules to protect creators and viewers.
HOW ‘RYAN’S WORLD’ MAKES $22 MILLION PER YEAR FOR THE GUANS
THE RYAN’S WORLD BRANDED EMIRE CONSISTS OF:
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
- Ryan ToysReview (21.4 Million Subscribers)
- Ryan’s Family Review (4.6 Million Subscribers)
- Studio Space (1.24 Million Subscribers)
- Combo Panda (1.09 Million Subscribers)
- VTubers (877,000 Subscribers)
- Gus the Gummy Gator (8227,000 subscribers).
- EK Doodles (250,000 Subscribers)
MAGAZINES AND BOOKS
- Ryan’s World Magazine (through UK publisher Egmont
- Ryan’s World Amazing Sticker Scenes – Eggmont
- Ryan’s World Ultimate Guide (Egmont).
TELEVISION:
- Ryan’s Mystery Playdate (Nick Jr.
VIDEO GAME
- Race with Ryan (Outright Games).
FAST FOOD TOYS
- Star Pal Kid’s Meal Toys for Kids (Carl’s Jr.)
FRUIT:
- Mandarin Oranges (Wonderful Halos)
BRANDED GOODS
- Ryan’s World Kids Oral Care Colgate
- Ryan’s World Target Exclusive Mega Mystery Treasure Chest Target
- Ryan’s World Exclusive Super Surprise Safe, Walmart
- Ryan’s World Duvet cover
- Ryan’s World Giant Floor Puzzle
- Ryan’s World Pyjamas
- Ryan’s World Cushion
- Ryan’s World Collectible Figures
- Ryan’s World Mystery Egg
