Who Ryan Holiday is genuinely connected to — every tie below verified against a primary source — and a look at where in the world his readers are.
Audience snapshot
His readers, by the numbers
635.2K
fans worldwide
297.3K
in the United States (46.8%)
53%
female · 47% male
39
average age
Audience figures: Rascasse audience intelligence (US panel, May 2026). Their model also finds the audience skews early-adopter and spiritual, and that its single strongest person-affinity is Peter Thiel — which is no accident: Holiday wrote the book on him.
Around the world
Where the readers are
Estimated fans by country, colored by region. Two figures are hard data from Rascasse — 635.2K worldwide and 297.3K in the US ★; the rest is a modeled estimate that distributes the remaining audience across his known book markets. Treat the smaller countries as illustrative, not exact.
North AmericaEuropeAsiaOceaniaLatin AmericaAfricaRest of world
#
Country
Region
Est. fans
1
United States ★
North America
297.3K
2
United Kingdom
Europe
52K
3
Canada
North America
40K
4
Australia
Oceania
30K
5
India
Asia
28K
6
Germany
Europe
20K
7
Brazil
Latin America
14K
8
Netherlands
Europe
10K
9
Philippines
Asia
9K
10
Ireland
Europe
7K
11
Mexico
Latin America
7K
12
France
Europe
7K
13
Spain
Europe
6K
14
South Africa
Africa
5K
15
Sweden
Europe
5K
16
Italy
Europe
5K
17
Poland
Europe
4.5K
18
New Zealand
Oceania
4.5K
19
UAE
Asia
4K
20
Singapore
Asia
3.5K
21
Indonesia
Asia
3.5K
22
Nigeria
Africa
3.5K
23
Japan
Asia
3K
24
Turkey
Asia
3K
25
South Korea
Asia
3K
26
Portugal
Europe
2.5K
27
Denmark
Europe
2.5K
28
Norway
Europe
2.5K
29
Switzerland
Europe
2.5K
30
Belgium
Europe
2K
31
Rest of world (~165 countries)
Rest of world
48.4K
★ = real figure. All other country values are WholeTech modeled estimates anchored on Rascasse’s worldwide total and US share — not Rascasse per-country data (Rascasse does not publish one). Method: the non-US audience is distributed across Holiday’s major English-language and translation markets by relative readership.
Every tie verified
The verified network
We used the Rascasse profile as a prompt, then built this from primary sources — his own site and books, his publisher, and the shows themselves. Audience-correlation guesses were left out; only real, documented connections made the cut.
Mentors
Robert Greene
Author of The 48 Laws of Power. Holiday dropped out of college at 19 to become his research assistant — Greene taught him the craft of writing and research. source
Tucker Max
Author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Holiday’s early boss in marketing; later a business partner who helped him found Brass Check. source
Business past
Dov Charney
Founder of American Apparel, where Holiday was Director of Marketing (2008–2014) — the source of much of Ego Is the Enemy. source
Brass Check
The marketing & advisory firm Holiday founded and runs. source
Co-author
Stephen Hanselman
Literary agent and Harvard Divinity grad; co-author of The Daily Stoic, The Daily Stoic Journal and Lives of the Stoics. source
People he wrote about (Conspiracy, 2018)
Peter Thiel
The central subject of Conspiracy — his secret campaign against Gawker. Holiday interviewed him for the book. (This is also the top person-affinity Rascasse flags for his audience — and it checks out.)source
Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea)
The wrestler whose privacy suit against Gawker — secretly funded by Thiel — is the spine of Conspiracy. source
Nick Denton
Gawker Media’s founder, the third principal figure of Conspiracy. source
The Stoics he popularizes
Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor whose private journal, Meditations, is the touchstone of Holiday’s work.
Seneca
Roman statesman and playwright; author of the Letters to Lucilius.
Epictetus
Born enslaved, later a freed Stoic teacher — the Discourses and Enchiridion.
Zeno of Citium
Founder of Stoicism (~300 BC), who taught in the painted porch (Stoa Poikile).
Cato the Younger
Roman senator and Stoic exemplar of integrity who opposed Julius Caesar.
Cleanthes
Zeno’s successor — a former water-carrier and boxer.
Chrysippus
Third head of the Stoa, who systematized Stoic logic.
Authors he champions
Steven Pressfield
Author of The War of Art, which Holiday re-reads before every project. source
Austin Kleon
Author of Steal Like an Artist; a friend Holiday has hosted at The Painted Porch. source
Rick Rubin
Producer and author of The Creative Act; a two-part Daily Stoic podcast guest. source
His media network (interview hosts)
Tim Ferriss
The 4th-ever guest on The Tim Ferriss Show (2014); returned several times. source
Joe Rogan
Guest on The Joe Rogan Experience #1836 (2022). source