Fortune Daily · Oct 19, 2026
With Steven Bartlett, Founder, Diary of a CEO and Steven.com
Photo via businessinsider.com
The Diary of a CEO is forecast to bring in about $60 million this year, against roughly $1.2 million in 2021, Steven Bartlett, founder of Diary of a CEO and Steven.com, told Fortune's Ellie Austin on Fortune Daily.
Large platform buyers offered Steven a big upfront payment to run four times as many ads and take the show off YouTube. He turned them down to keep what he calls "sovereignty" over his audience.
"The show started with me in my bedroom at 2am with a sock over my mic." — Steven Bartlett
Steven launched the show alone in September 2017. He now runs Steven.com, a media company forecasting about $90 million across all its creators this year, and he has answered a 2024 BBC investigation into health claims on his show by hiring a full-time medical PhD.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 11 moments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Diary of a CEO forecasts about $60M in revenue this year, up from roughly $1.2M in 2021
Steven.com expects about $160M next year across its creators
Steven turned down an offer that meant 4x as many ads and leaving YouTube
About 70% of the show's partners are founders Steven reached out to himself
A full-time medical PhD now fact-checks every health episode, after a 2024 BBC investigation
Steven says he is not a journalist and follows his own curiosity instead
Women make up about 56% of audio listeners, and they pushed the show into women's health
1. A Diary Read at 2am
Steven started Diary of a CEO with no guests at all.
Steven Bartlett's first episodes were him reading his own diary
"It started with me just reading my diary. There were no guests on the show for the first couple of episodes." — Steven Bartlett
He then moved to interviewing other people about their lives. He called the switch "selfish," because he found other people's stories more intellectually stimulating than narrating his own.
