Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is the biggest name on YouTube and has blasted his way into a number of other fields.
Early in his career, MrBeast imitated many of the most popular types of content. Discussing YouTube news, absurd stunts, and pranks were all on the menu. It wasn’t until a few years deep into his time as a content creator that he discovered a winning formula of his own that centered around giving away large sums of money.
While this started with things like $10,000 donations to Twitch streamers and giving $100,000 to random fast food workers, it grew considerably bigger as time went on. Here’s how he reached the top and how he manages to keep the lights on while giving away so much money.
Who is MrBeast?
MrBeast is a YouTuber known for his content that largely centers around contests and giveaways. His unique brand of content saw him rise to the top of YouTube, becoming the most-subscribed individual on the platform. Alongside his main profile, he runs a number of other side channels including a gaming channel and Beast Reacts which have tens of millions of followers each.
What is MrBeast famous for?
MrBeast is known for being the largest YouTuber in the world in terms of subscribers. He surpassed longtime YouTube king Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg in subscribers in November 2022, dethroning the Swede after several years at the top.
MrBeast’s style of content has been highly influential across the platform, particularly as it relates to expensive contests or competitions. His proverbial fingerprints can be seen on the work of many other prominent content creators, with personalities highlighting the amount of money they spend on their endeavors.
Why is MrBeast so rich?
MrBeast is rich from a combination of YouTube ad revenue, partnerships, sponsorships, and outside entrepreneurial endeavors.
The biggest source of income for MrBeast comes directly from his YouTube videos. The YouTuber enjoys incredible viewership on his videos, which routinely hit over 100 million views. His most successful ever approached 400 million. That sort of success translates to significant ad revenue on YouTube.
Alongside this, he has sponsorships, endorsement deals, and partnerships that command a hefty asking price. Much of the money that is given away in videos actually comes from these deals, which is why his luxurious giveaways haven’t bankrupted him.
Finally, MrBeast has a number of different entrepreneurial ventures that have had varying degrees of success. The most notable among these is MrBeast Burger, a line of burger joints across the United States and Canada themed around his content. Most of these restaurants are ghost kitchens, but the first sit-down location was opened in 2022 to great fanfare.
How can MrBeast pay for his videos?
MrBeast pays for his extravagant contests through brand deals and sponsorships. The YouTuber has discussed how he covers the costs of his giveaways while still growing his net worth over time. The secret to MrBeast’s success is essentially a cycle where he receives money from sponsorships, creates extravagant videos, attracts greater viewership, which attracts bigger sponsorships, and so on.
According to MrBeast, the money that comes from many of his partnerships and brand deals is funneled back into the content rather than into his bank account. He has been able to continue growing his wealth despite the costs associated with his content through ad revenue from YouTube and entrepreneurial adventures.
Is MrBeast the biggest YouTuber?
MrBeast is the largest individual YouTuber in terms of subscriber count. He had previously been competing with PewDiePie for this honor but managed to secure the top spot in November 2022. Since then, he has grown to have a significant lead over PewDiePie in this metric.
While MrBeast is the biggest YouTuber in terms of his subscriber count, he does not have the most-subscribed channel on YouTube. The brand channels for Sony Entertainment Television India and record label T-Series both have higher subscriber counts than MrBeast’s channel. Also ahead of him is children’s content channel Cocomelon.
What did MrBeast do that was bad?
MrBeast received criticism for problematic jokes and language in past social media posts, while more recent videos have stirred debate on the intersection of charity, entertainment, and marketing.
Much of the criticism surrounding him has centered on social media posts from his teenage years that used homophobic, transphobic, or ableist terms. These posts notably resurfaced in 2018 during the start of his rise to the top of YouTube, and discussion surrounding this has stirred on a few occasions in the years since.
In 2023, he released a video entitled “1,000 Blind People See For The First Time” where 1,000 people from around the world received cataract surgery to reverse blindness. The video stirred discussion about the nature of MrBeast’s content, with some saying it was exploitative to present other peoples’ illnesses for entertainment purposes.
Why did MrBeast delete his old videos?
MrBeast deleted many of his old videos that included offensive content, stunts that would be dangerous if replicated by others, or content that could lead to bullying other content creators.
While MrBeast is now known for his philanthropic contests, he previously did a wide variety of other styles of content on his main channel. This included everything from gaming to pranks to YouTube news. Not all of this holds up well under modern sensibilities, however.
Across many videos, he made homophobic and transphobic jokes or used ableist language. This extended across multiple social media platforms, with the influencer using various epithets on Twitter as well as YouTube. He also had a series of YouTube videos that highlighted bad video intros and thumbnails made by other content creators, which had the potential to result in harassment.
Some of MrBeast’s early content also involved stunts using fire, guns, and explosives. Videos such as “Can 20,000 Magnets Catch A Bullet Mid Air” and “1,000,000 Match Chain Reaction Fire Domino” were removed from MrBeast’s channel.
What is MrBeast Burger?
MrBeast Burger is a line of fast food restaurants opened by the YouTuber of the same name. While the initial concept was a pop-up restaurant, hundreds of permanent locations were opened across North America and overseas.
Almost all MrBeast Burger locations are ghost kitchens, with orders accepted through online food delivery services such as DoorDash and Skip the Dishes. A proper sit-down location was opened in 2022 with thousands of MrBeast fans attending the grand opening.
