MrBeast, whose real name is James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, is one of the biggest influencers in the world. The 27-year-old started posting on YouTube as a 13-year-old, creating video game playthroughs and videos where he would estimate the net worth of his fellow content creators. Today, MrBeast is a self-made billionaire, with an estimated net worth of at least $1 billion, per CelebrityNetWorth.com
So how did he go from a teen YouTuber to the man behind a multibillion dollar company? Here's everything HELLO! knows about MrBeast's cataclysmic rise.
The YouTuber grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, and was primarily raised by his mother after his parents divorced in 2007. He adopted the name "MrBeast" in 2012 when he first started posting to YouTube just a few years after his parents split. After dropping out of college, Jimmy became obsessed with going viral on the internet.
"There's a five-year point in my life where I was just relentlessly, unhealthily obsessed with studying virality, studying the YouTube algorithm," he told Rolling Stone in April 2022. "I woke up. I would order Uber Eats food. And then I would just sit on my computer all day just studying [expletive] nonstop with [other YouTubers]."
© Getty ImagesSoon after, Jimmy did just that.
When did MrBeast first go viral?
Jimmy was always forward thinking. When he was a teenager, he launched Beast Industries at the same time he started on YouTube. MrBeast's first mega-viral video was in January 2017 when he published an almost 24-hour-long video of himself counting to 100,000. The task itself took over 40 hours, but garnered tens of thousands of views within days.
© Getty Images for Breakthrough PrAfter gaining notoriety on YouTube, Jimmy started collaborating with other major internet stars, like PewDiePie and Charli and Dixie D'Amelio. He even partnered with the video game makers of Apex Legends to film a real-life battle royale with prizes totaling $200,000.
MrBeast mastered YouTube's algorithm, reinvested his early earnings to make even bigger videos, and secured sponsorships before he launched multiple successful businesses.
Beast Industries' successes
In November 2021, Jimmy posted a video titled: "$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!" The video was a recreation of Netflix's Squid Games and followed 456 people competing for nearly half a million dollars. It was one of his first videos in which he gave away thousands to his fans.
© Getty ImagesThe true genius of MrBeast's empire lies in his businesses, Beast Burger and Feastables. Beast Burger, which Jimmy launched in 2020, is a virtual restaurant brand that operates on a "ghost kitchen" model. It partners with existing restaurants to use their kitchens for delivery-only orders.
Feastables is Jimmy's physical snack brand. The company was expected to bring in $500 million in revenue in 2024.
© Getty ImagesIn June 2024, MrBeast became the most subscribed channel on YouTube. As of today, December 16, he currently has 454 million subscribers. And with that popularity comes quite a bit of responsibility. Jimmy is also extremely philanthropic, giving away hundreds of millions through cash giveaways and his non-profit, Beast Philanthropy. This approach of "altruistic capitalism" is Jimmy's central business philosophy.
"We're a for-profit company, but we're also altruistic. The question we ask ourselves is, 'Can we combine capitalism and altruism in a way that's a win-win?' We believe the answer is yes," Beast Industries CEO Jeff Housenbold told Fortune in September.
