Grumpy Cat: How a Reddit and YouTube star earnt its owners $100 million in two years

“I was able to quit my job as a waitress within days of her first appearance on social media and the phone simply hasn’t stopped ringing since.”

The business of making Grumpy a millionaire is complex, and as such she has an agent. Ben Lashes, a self-proclaimed “meme manager”, has translated the public’s thirst for videos of animals doing daft things into cold hard cash. His clients also include Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat, as well as non-felines from Doge to Ridiculously Photogenic Guy.

There’s also a line of “premium coffee drinks” called “Grumppuccino”, which has been launched this year and is available at more than 100 stores across the US.

And Grumpy’s much-vaunted first movie has now had its first showings on the US TV channel Lifetime.

A two-book deal followed. Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book made it onto the New York Times bestseller list and still retails at $9.30 in hardcover. A second book, The Grumpy Guide to Life, is also ranking well among Amazon’s bestsellers.

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‘Grumpy Cat’, aka Tardar Sauce, clearly enjoying her star treatment

HaTTiP

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