The Try Guys Admit Ned Fulmer’s Exit From Company Was Costly
YouTube sensation The Try Guys experienced a shakeup two weeks ago when they announced that one of their founding members, Ned Fulmer, had left the company. Fulmer was ousted after carrying on an extramarital affair with an employee of 2nd Try LLC., the company the friends founded after leaving Buzzfeed. In a follow-up video, Zach Kornfeld noted that the entire experience, including content that needed to be scrapped, cost the group a fair bit of money. In a podcast episode addressing the scandal, Kornfeld and Keith Habersberger again briefly touched on the fiscal impact of Fulmer’s decision. What, exactly, are the financial concerns for The Try Guys?
The financial impact of Ned Fulmer’s cheating scandal
In a video posted to YouTube on October 3, The Try Guys discussed how Ned Fulmer’s cheating scandal affected the company. The group revealed that they made production decisions due to the scandal that were costly. The Try Guys scrapped several videos, and editors have spent untold hours working on erasing Fulmer from upcoming videos. The extra workload isn’t over yet, either.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ned’s decision to sleep with an employee could have far-reaching financial effects. According to an expert who spoke to the publication, the Try Guys likely bring in $6 million per year between sponsorships and YouTube views. That doesn’t include their side projects, merch sales, or additional media obligations. Fulmer’s ousting and the fallout could cost the company a fair bit of money; at the very least, the expert argues, his decision puts $6 million per year in online engagement at risk.
Will The Try Guys lose everything because of Fulmer’s departure? Probably not. Habersberger, Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang have a solid fan base, and Fulmer was largely seen as the least interesting of the foursome, anyway. Still, his ousting brings about big changes, which could cost the group various ways. So far, it’s cost them emotionally, and they’ve paid in time. The fiscal fallout will take a bit more time to figure out. Still, it’s safe to say the Try Guys incurred significant costs.
The Try Guys did experience channel growth following the scandal
The Try Guys fans will likely never know just how much Ned Fulmer’s affair cost the company. Still, there does appear to be a small silver lining to the situation. Following the scandal, the group’s YouTube channel and other social media profiles did experience significant growth.
According to Social Blade, The Try Guys YouTube channel grew by 200,000 subscribers in the weeks since Fulmer’s cheating scandal hit the internet, pushing their total subscriber count over 8 million. The Try Guys TikTok account also grew exponentially in the last month. The account gained 700,000 subscribers and almost 12 million likes since late September.
Is that enough to offset any financial damages incurred, though? Most likely not, especially if the group begins losing subscribers and business opportunities once the dust of the affair settles. Subscribers, clicks, online engagement, and other media opportunities, or lack thereof, are not the only financial considerations, either.
There are also many behind-the-scenes costs that the group likely incurred. Kornfeld, Habersberger, and Yang openly discussed how detailed the investigation was and how long they spent speaking to employment lawyers in the days after Fulmer admitted to sleeping with an employee. The experts they leaned on following the affair news don’t come cheap. Fans will never know about any severance packages offered to those involved in the situation, either. So, in short, Fulmer’s behavior is unlikely to bankrupt 2nd Try LLC., but the financial cost of his affair hasn’t been insignificant.
