The Creator Economy’s Most Powerful Representatives: The Deals That Defined 2026
The creator economy has become the entertainment industry’s most disruptive force, shaping elections, redefining independent film, and even determining which fashion collaborations sell out within minutes. From Hasan Piker’s political influence to Markiplier’s self-funded movie gamble and Hailey Bieber’s sold-out Gap collections, digital creators are no longer just internet personalities—they are cultural and commercial powerhouses. But behind every viral moment, every blockbuster deal, and every carefully managed brand partnership stands a team of agents, managers, and lawyers who operate quietly in the background. Without these representatives, the worlds creators have built would be drastically smaller, and audiences would have far fewer icons to follow. This is a look at the most powerful reps in the creator space, the deals they made happen, and the money they moved in 2026.
UTA / DBA
At United Talent Agency, the creators division and Digital Brand Architects continue to dominate the landscape. Ali Berman, Raina Penchansky, Oren Rosenbaum, and Hilary Williams oversee a roster that includes Markiplier, Kareem Rahma, Colin and Samir, and Olandria Carthen. This year, the team populated Netflix’s new video podcast slate with The Rotten Files With Stephanie Soo, brokered the eyebrow-raising MrBeast–James Patterson novel collaboration, expanded Emma Chamberlain’s Chamberlain Coffee brand with a new Abbot Kinney location, and helped place Alix Earle into the Netflix series Earle Meets World.
Gersh
Gersh’s digital division, led by Keith Bielory, Melissa DeMarco, and Jade Sherman, continues to push clients into mainstream entertainment and culture. The team facilitated record-breaking Broadway runs for Chicago by placing reality stars Ariana Madix, Whitney Leavitt, and Mark Ballas in key roles. They also helped Doctor Mike surpass 30 million followers and secured Eli Rallo a book deal that became a New York Times best-seller. Their strategy is simple: treat digital fame as a launching pad for traditional entertainment success.
Sixteenth
Alexis Ramos has built Sixteenth’s sports division from the ground up, representing top athletes across the NFL, WNBA, and track and field. Skye Petrie brought a massive U.K. roster to the company, helping British internet stars like Maddie Borge expand globally. Payton Booker, meanwhile, has been securing major brand partnerships, including a $90,000 campaign for Charles Brockman III. Together, they represent a new model of talent management that bridges sports, lifestyle, and digital media.
Manatt Phelps & Phillips
Christopher Chatham and Ellie Heisler represent some of the biggest names in digital entertainment. As Alan Chikin Chow delivers more episodes of Alan’s Universe to his 100 million-plus YouTube subscribers, Chatham and Heisler expanded his reach through distribution deals with the Roku Channel and Tubi. Chatham also reps multiplatform lightning rod Logan Paul, brokering deals for his Impaulsive podcast and working with streamer IShowSpeed, who has 61 million YouTube subscribers. Heisler works closely with Jordan and Salish Matter and structured Salish’s collaboration with Chipotle, making her the youngest person to launch a digital menu item with the brand.
Palette
Daniel Daks and Josh DeAngelis founded Palette during the 2020 TikTok boom and have built a roster spanning comedy, lifestyle, and infotainment. Their clients include Spanish news creator Carlos Eduardo Espina, whose Creator Cup twice sold out Houston Dynamo’s stadium, and Roblox star Lana Rae, whose consumer product line has generated more than $20 million at retail in just five months. Palette’s ability to turn digital personalities into commercial brands has made it one of the most formidable management companies in the space.
Odd Projects
Arjun Das was recruited to Odd Projects by managing partners Brian Sokolik and Nate Ruff, and he has quickly made a name for himself representing social impact creators. For Hunter Prosper, a storyteller and interviewer, Das closed a book deal and helped launch a series with Barack Obama’s production company Higher Ground. He also assisted video creator Jesus Morales, who tells Latinx stories around Los Angeles, in launching a nonprofit that has already raised six figures in donations. It is representation with purpose, and it is paying off.
WME
Ben Davis and Jad Dayeh co-head WME’s digital department and have overseen some of the year’s biggest deals. Davis closed a reported $100 million first-of-its-kind pact for Jay Shetty and his On Purpose podcast, giving Netflix and Spotify joint exclusive rights. Dayeh and Davis also helped reality stars Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner secure major brand partnerships, including Berner’s multiyear ambassadorship with Lululemon. Their ability to pair digital talent with blue-chip brands remains unmatched.
Entertainment 360
Alexandra Devlin joined Entertainment 360 this year to expand its creator business, bringing with her a track record of high-profile deals. While at WME, she brokered Paige DeSorbo’s Super Bowl commercial with Kinder Bueno and negotiated finance guru Vivian Tu’s SoFi Bank ambassadorship. Her move signals Entertainment 360’s ambition to claim a larger share of the creator economy.
Greenberg Glusker
Matt Dysart and Eric Perlmutter-Gumbiner serve as corporate and strategic advisers to some of the most important digital marketing and talent firms in the business. Perlmutter-Gumbiner works with creator-led companies like Palette Media, Jake Rosen Entertainment, Get Engaged Media, Underscore Talent Agency, Made by All, and Dhar Mann Studios. Dysart represents Slow Ventures, Kynetic Content, UnderCurrent, Palette Media, and Creator Society, among others. Their legal and business guidance helps keep the creator economy’s infrastructure running smoothly.
Parker
Parker Management started the year by acquiring Estate Five, expanding its portfolio of creators in fashion and beauty. Stephanie Field and Lindsay Nead have added new clients like Alex Bennett, Abigail Erb, and Dan and Samantha Matthews to a deep bench of lifestyle, family, and home creators, as well as Bachelor Nation talent. The firm has secured campaigns with Google Pixel, Abercrombie & Fitch, Tuckernuck, and Lincoln, proving that lifestyle creators remain a powerful force in advertising.
Select
Lisa Filipelli, Brittany Maxwell, and Caroline Nardilla continue to push Select into the intersection of the creator economy and Hollywood. They delivered new seasons of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and its franchise expansion TSLOMW: Orange County, both featuring Select clients. The team also launched Select Sports, a division that reimagines athlete representation for the social media era, landing Super Bowl campaigns with Meta x Oakley glasses and Toyota for athletes Sky Brown and Oksana Masters.
Underscore Talent
Mallory Llewellyn placed four clients on Netflix’s Calabasas Confidential, where she also serves as consulting producer. Kyle Stevens helped Kareem Rahma turn SubwayTakes into an Emmy-nominated series and launched his second show, Keep the Meter Running. Dylan Flinn has become the go-to manager for top AI creators, landing one of the first celebrity likeness deals with HiggsfieldAI and securing a studio development deal for AI content creator Chloe vs History. The future is here, and Underscore is leading it.
CAA
Creative Artists Agency has had a banner year. Arleta Fowler, Andrew Graham, Brent Weinstein, and Sophie Wiener signed some of the biggest creators in the world, including Rhett + Link, Valkyrae, Stokes Twins, Deestroying, Rebecca Zamolo, Nara Smith, Jack Goldburg, Reckless Ben, Max “Career Ladder” Klymenko, and Reece Feldman. In June, CAA and Integrated Media Co. launched Compound Creative Holdings, a $250 million venture aimed at acquiring, operating, and growing companies in the creator economy. The agency is not just representing talent; it is investing in the industry’s future.
Loaded
Brandon Freytag and Yoni Ginsberg have spent nearly a decade building careers and brokering livestreaming’s biggest deals. Loaded represents the largest share of Twitch livestreamers by watch time, including TheBurntPeanut, Cinna, Maya Higa, and Shroud. Recent deals with Google, EA, Epic Games, and Tencent have kept the company at the top of its game, including the “Protect the Peanut” campaign with Battlefield, one of EA’s most successful creator campaigns.
Jackoway Austen
Andy Galker and Eric Weissler represent Mark Rober, the former NASA engineer with nearly 82 million YouTube subscribers, as well as late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. They closed the deal that put Rober’s CrunchLabs and Kimmel’s Kimmelot into business together on Netflix’s upcoming competition series Schooled. Rober will host and executive produce the show, which pits teams of students against each other in creative science challenges. It is a perfect blend of education, entertainment, and star power.
THE·TEAM
Marcela Woessner inked gymnast and Instagram star Livvy Dunne’s partnership with Miller Lite and turned an embarrassing viral moment—sweat stains, which are unavoidable—into a partnership with deodorant brand Secret. The firm also acquired Provisions, a leading golf creator agency founded by Joe Gilliland and Josh Morgan. The two developed the Creator Classic, a tournament where 12 of YouTube’s top golf creators compete, and built Your Golf Tour, a YouTube series featuring the sport’s biggest creators and pros.
Yorn Levine
Ryan Goodell, Todd Rubenstein, and Kevin Yorn have helped Alix Earle evolve from creator to entrepreneur, launching her skin care brand Reale Actives and negotiating the Netflix series Earle Meets World. Yorn advised Hailey Bieber on her 2026 Gap collection, long live the baggy jeans renaissance, while Rubenstein represented Charli D’Amelio. Goodell has chef Nick DiGiovanni, who has more than 75 million followers and served as Fox Sports’ official chef for the FIFA World Cup this year.
Night
Night has had another blockbuster year, acquiring IRL marketing firm Experiential Supply Co. John Nelson brokered deals for Twitch star Kai Cenat’s record-breaking Streamer University with partners including Red Bull, Dell, and Fortnite. David Huntzinger expanded progressive influencer Hasan Piker’s merch line amid his skyrocketing fame and brokered YouTubers Sam & Colby’s Netflix partnership. Michael Gordon oversaw the eight-figure sale of true-crime YouTube channel Dr. Insanity to an investment company.
Weintraub Tobin
Shaun Gordon has guided Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy from a buzzy podcast into an aspiring media empire. The Unwell Network now includes podcasting, film, live events, touring, and major brand partnerships, with distribution through SiriusXM. In the past year, Unwell raised its first outside capital at a reported $500 million pre-money valuation. Jessica Marlow represents Claudia and Jackie Oshry of The Toast, Remi Parsons of Pretty Basic and Basically Unfiltered, and Chris Olsen, the TikTok comedian and author of I Think My Therapist Hates Me.
Loeb & Loeb
Melanie Howard works with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany, advising them on endorsements and promotional partnerships. She also counsels gamer Andre Rebelo, better known as Typical Gamer, Karl Jacobs, and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. On the other side of the table, she represented Gap in the Hailey Bieber collaboration. Loose denim forever.
Fixated
Derek Howe led Fixated’s acquisition of Studio71, creating a combined global network of more than 1,000 creators. The company operates a 25,000-person clipper network and generates 3 billion monthly impressions on its owned social pages. Howe brokered deals for children’s gaming expert Mackenzie Turner with Disney and Nickelodeon and led the creation of her Roblox experience, which earned 100 million visits in its first 30 days.
Brillstein Entertainment Partners
Seth Jacobs helped the true-crime show Morbid sell out Radio City Music Hall on a live tour and launched Unbiased Politics, a daily video show with lawyer influencer Jordan Berman. Brittny Turner helped YouTube star Tana Mongeau launch her podcast Brand Safe and secured partnerships with SeatGeek, DraftKings, Skims, and Celsius.
Goodman Genow
Will Jacobson closed deals for beauty vlogger Bretman Rock to front a global campaign for Kate Spade New York and made him the face of K-beauty brand Dr. Groot in the U.S. Matt Rosen’s client Noah Beck has been showcasing his acting talent in the Tubi rom-com franchise Sideline: The QB and Me, with Rosen negotiating deals for the second and third films and helping Beck get cast on Fox’s Baywatch reboot.
Outshine Talent
Barbara Jones has built Outshine’s sports business significantly, representing internet-famous baseball stars like the Savannah Bananas’ Kyle “KJ” Jackson and RobertAnthony Cruz, who launched a custom product line with Under Armour. Jones also helped comedian and actor Tyler Gaca develop a horror film and comedy creator Lala Sadii secure a Disney Channel scripted project.
Hansen Jacobson
In a landmark creator economy story, Markiplier pushed fans to call theaters to screen his self-funded $3 million film Iron Lung. It has since earned $50 million worldwide, with Adam Kaller and Ryan Pastorek by his side. The pair also represent SmartLess, Crooked Media, The Bulwark, Smosh, Mythical Entertainment, Emma Chamberlain, Liza Koshy, Lilly Singh, and Valkyrae. Lauren Partipilo Schwartz helped seal Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo’s Giggly Squad multiyear deal with SiriusXM and negotiated for RHOSLC star Bronwyn Newport to appear on The Traitors.
Smooth Media
Founded by former Morning Brew executives, Smooth Media has become one of the fastest-growing management firms representing knowledge creators. Josh Kaplan and Jenny Rothenberg have helped execute major campaigns for Anthropic, Notion, Microsoft, Ramp, Canva, and Google. The company partnered with Colin and Samir to build creator industry publication The Publish Press, and creator Cat Goetze, known online as CatGPT, recently took an equity stake and joined as a strategic adviser.
Gang Tyre
Annie Lee and Cheryl Snow represent kids creator Ms. Rachel, who gained 10 billion views worldwide. They negotiated her Netflix series, one of the most watched children’s shows on the service with 53.4 million views, and her debut album I’m So Happy. They also rep former Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt, whose run as Roxie Hart in Chicago grossed more than $8 million in its first six weeks.
Reed Smith
Eric Marder helped 23-year-old Brooke Monk launch her Doting Beauty brand this year while handling all of her legal and endorsement work. Marder also represents social media star and U.S. Navy veteran Bella Poarch, who has 91.6 million TikTok followers alone.
3 Arts Entertainment
Dunia McNeily closed a podcast deal for horror creator Heidi Wong and put scripted adaptations of lifestyle influencer Tinx’s best-selling books The Shift and Hotter in the Hamptons into development at Amazon and Hulu. She also secured a major partnership with Kérastase featuring tastemaker Stassi Schroeder.
Range Media Partners
Eman Redwan oversees 25 executives who have closed more than $100 million in deals over the past year, with a client roster including Nara Smith. Mariam Rastegar Ross brokered Chris Appleton’s seven-figure deal with Schwarzkopf, while Worthy Patterson developed influencer Beca Michie into a top fashion creator, placing her at major fashion shows and closing seven figures worth of deals.
Made by All
Leanne Perice launched a studio this year aimed at turning creators into Hollywood talent and owners of original IP. She works with comedy heavyweights like Adam W, Hannah Stocking, and Josh Peck, along with internet-native artists like Devon Rodriguez. The company has fostered partnerships with mainstream stars including Kevin Hart, Tom Holland, and Jennifer Lopez.
RKM
Douglas Pinsky and Jake Williams have helped RKM surpass $50 million in gross partnership revenue in 2026. Their clients include gadget guru Carterpcs, robotics creator Rowan Cheung, deep tech explainer Natalie Fratto, and comedian Austin Nasso. They sold Roberto Nickson’s Life With Claude series to Anthropic and negotiated millions in partnerships with OpenAI, Google, Meta, Nvidia, AMD, and SpaceXAI.
Greenberg Traurig
Paige Kaplan Randolph advised Lala Sadii through the development of Lala IRL, a live-action scripted Disney Channel and Disney+ series inspired by her rise as a social media star. Her clients also include Olympic track and field power couple Tara and Hunter Woodhall, best-selling author Erin McGoff, and The Lipstick Lesbians, who have partnered with Clinique, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Tatcha, NYX, Morphe, Estée Lauder, Fenty, Milk, and Goop.
Sloane Offer
Jonathan Sauer represents Colin & Samir, who have interviewed everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to MrBeast. Sauer negotiated their partnerships with Google Gemini, Adobe, and LinkedIn. He also represents Ryan Trahan, known for his charity fundraisers and viral video challenges, including the Penny Series, in which he tries to travel across the U.S. starting with only one penny.
Weinstein Senior
For MrBeast, the first individual creator to hit 500 million YouTube subscribers in June, Tara Senior and Todd Weinstein serve as lead counsel. They structured the deals behind Amazon Prime Video’s Beast Games seasons two and three, each budgeted at more than $100 million. They are also lead counsel to Dhar Mann Studios, the largest scripted creator-led studio in the business, which pulls nearly 300 million views a week across platforms while Mann retains full creative ownership and independence.
These representatives are the invisible architects of the creator economy. They negotiate the deals, protect the brands, and open the doors that allow digital talent to become cultural institutions. And in 2026, their power has never been more evident.
