Gone are the days when pets simply played with their owners and chewed socks. Thanks to social media, even pets these days have net worths and ultra-impressive ones. The four-legged friends now travel in private jets and run business empires. After Choupette, Doug the Pug, Nala Cat, and Olivia Benson paved the way, Tucker Budzyn is the latest million-dollar mutt on the block.
This Michigan-based purebred Golden Retriever is all of five and boasts 25 million collective subscribers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter. From trying the latest hairstyles to food tasting, answering fan questions, and raising his son Todd, Tucker has won hearts around the globe, not to forget, also the 2021 American Pet Influencer Award. Let’s take a look at the love-filled life of this gorgeous hairball who is easily raking in $1 million a year-
Born to rule-
Tucker was born in May 2018 and came home with Courtney and Mike Budzyn. Come 2020, this blossoming canine was woofing his way to seven figures a year in earnings from sponsored ads. The journey began with his momager Courtney making Tucker’s Instagram page the day she got him. His first viral video happened within a month, “We gave him an ice cube, and he was just pawing at it,” said Budzyn. “I was floored that many people were as interested in my dog as me. By the time he was six months old, he had 60,000 followers … It was insane.”
Meet his parents-
Little did Courtney and her civil engineer husband, Mike, know how life would transform with Tucker. Not only did the puppy bring immense happiness and more pups into their clan, but it also turned circumstances around for the owners financially. It didn’t take long for this beauty of a golden retriever to become famous, and his momager, Courtney, realized Tucker was meant for terrific things. At 31, Courtney, a house cleaner, and Mike quit working to manage Tucker and his puppy son Todd, full time.
Meet Tucker’s kin-
In addition to being the cynosure of the Budzyn home, Tucker and his partner Journee have their own hairy, barking cocoon of happiness. The golden retrievers share a son, Todd, and two girls. The posts of Todd and Tucker together are some of the most popular on his Instagram feed, with more than half a million likes on every post and more than 5 million views on every other YouTube video. One of the best videos showed Tucker picking his son’s name.
Tucker’s moolah-
Tucker is busy tucking away money in the bank when he is not being absolutely adorable! His momager shared, “A YouTube-paid post can be anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000 for a 30-minute pre-roll.” She continued, “Instagram, we make about $20,000 for anywhere from three to eight stories.” The Budzyns also post daily Tucker content, earning an estimated $6,700 – $11,000 per TikTok post.
Tucker leads the good life-
In barely five dog years, Tucker has managed what most humans cannot in a lifetime. He has raised a family, runs a thriving business with his parents, built an app called TuckerMoji, which allows his fans to use custom emojis and GIFs, and has a super successful YouTube channel, the Tucker and Todd channel! In his spare time, the pet loves swimming in pools and lakes, vacationing in beach homes and log cabins, and reviewing food with his girlfriend.
Barking his way to brand collaborations-
Per New York Post, the Budzyns have partnered with companies like BarkBox, a monthly subscription service, and King Kanine CBD for dogs, with which they are making their own collection of products. Tucker’s massive lineup of merchandise includes dog products like leashes, silicon mats, toys, and even a $35 Tucker collectible on Amazon.
