MrBeast

"Mr. Beast" redirects here. For other uses, see Mr. Beast (disambiguation).

MrBeast
MrBeast in 2023
Personal information
Born
James Stephen Donaldson

(1998-05-07) May 7, 1998 (age 26)
Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
OriginGreenville, North Carolina, U.S.[1]
Other names
  • Jimmy Donaldson
  • MrBeast6000
EducationGreenville Christian Academy
Occupations
Signature
Websitemrbeast.store
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Genres
Subscribers
  • 327 million (main channel)
  • 46.3 million (MrBeast 2)
  • 26.4 million (Beast Philanthropy)
  • 45.5 million (MrBeast Gaming)
  • 34.8 million (Beast Reacts)
[2]
Total views
  • 62.6 billion (main channel)
  • 7.83 billion (MrBeast 2)
  • 953 million (Beast Philanthropy)
  • 8.27 billion (MrBeast Gaming)
  • 6.36 billion (Beast Reacts)
[2]
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers2016[3]
1,000,000 subscribers2017[4]
10,000,000 subscribers2018[4]
50,000,000 subscribers2021
100,000,000 subscribers2022
Jimmy Donaldson's voice
At the 2022 Kids' Choice Awards
Recorded April 2022
Last updated: October 27, 2024
This article is part of
a series about
MrBeast
Videos
Brands
Fundraisers
Associated people

James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson[a] (born May 7, 1998), better known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, internet personality, and businessman. He is known for his fast-paced and high-production videos featuring elaborate challenges and lucrative giveaways.[11] With over 320 million subscribers, he has the most subscribers of any YouTube channel,[12][13] and is the third-most-followed creator on TikTok with over 104 million followers. He also has over 60 million followers on Instagram and 30.9 million on X (formerly Twitter).

Donaldson grew up in Greenville, North Carolina. He began posting videos to YouTube in early 2012[14] under the handle MrBeast6000. His early content ranged from Let's Plays to "videos estimating the wealth of other YouTubers".[15] He went viral in 2017 after his "counting to 100,000" video earned tens of thousands of views in just a few days. His videos have become increasingly grand and extravagant.[16] Once his channel took off, Donaldson hired some of his childhood friends to co-run the brand. Donaldson also runs the YouTube channels Beast Reacts (formerly BeastHacks), MrBeast Gaming, MrBeast 2 (formerly MrBeast Shorts),[17] and the philanthropy channel Beast Philanthropy.[18][19]

Donaldson is the founder of MrBeast Burger, Feastables, and a co-founder of Team Trees, a fundraiser for the Arbor Day Foundation that has raised over $24 million for its campaigns, and Lunchly, a food and snack brand similar to Lunchables.[20][21][22] He also co-founded Team Seas, a fundraiser for Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup that has raised over $30 million.[23] Donaldson won the Creator of the Year award four years in a row at the Streamy Awards in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023; he also won the Favorite Male Creator award three times at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In 2023, Time named him as one of the world's 100 most influential people.[24] He has ranked on the Forbes list for the highest-paid YouTube creator in 2022[25] and has an estimated net worth of $500 million.[26]

In September 2024, Donaldson was one of the subjects of a class action lawsuit that alleged widespread mistreatment, sexual harassment, and unpaid expenses and wages.[27]

  1. ^ YouTube star, Greenville's own MrBeast rethinks old notions of philanthropy Archived July 18, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Wnct.com. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "About MrBeast". YouTube.
  3. ^ Donaldson, James Stephen (July 8, 2016). "100,000 SUBSCRIBERS.EXE". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "MrBeast's YouTube stats". Social Blade. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Raiken, Amber (August 1, 2023). "YouTube star MrBeast sues his food-delivery service over 'inedible' and 'poor quality' items". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  6. ^ Duffy, Clare (January 23, 2024). "MrBeast tested Elon Musk's theory and took home $250,000 | CNN Business". CNN. Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  7. ^ "First person to reach 1 million followers on Threads | Guinness World Records". Guinness World Records. July 6, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  8. ^ North Carolina Secretary of State. "Registered Agent James Stephen Donaldson". sosnc.gov. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  9. ^ MrBeastStaff (October 23, 2022). "James Stephen Donaldson". r/MrBeast. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Karl, Chris (November 30, 2021). "How MrBeast's Squid Game Was Made Revealed In BTS Video". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  11. ^ Lloyd, Andrew; Cheong, Charissa; Theil, Michele (November 16, 2022). "From fan to friendly rival, here's how MrBeast's 10-year journey to overtake PewDiePie as YouTube's biggest creator finally paid off". Insider. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  12. ^ Davis, Wes (June 2, 2024). "PewDiePie 'avenged' as MrBeast becomes YouTube's most-subscribed channel". The Verge. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "MrBeast becomes first Youtuber to hit 300 million subscribers". The Times of India. July 11, 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "Night Media Signs Top Influencer, 'MrBeast'". Business Wire. January 23, 2019. Archived from the original on May 26, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  15. ^ Asarch, Steven (April 2, 2019). "How YouTuber MrBeast Pulled Off a Real-life Battle Royale in three Weeks". Newsweek. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference :16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "MrBeast Shorts - YouTube". YouTube. November 5, 2022. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  18. ^ Weiss, Geoff (May 15, 2020). "MrBeast Just Launched A Gaming Channel. Now He's Looking To Hire An Editor". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  19. ^ "Beast Philanthropy Official Site - Help End Hunger". Beastphilanthropy.org. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  20. ^ "Help Us Plant 20 Million Trees – Join #TeamTrees". teamtrees.org. Archived from the original on May 17, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  21. ^ Leskin, Paige (December 19, 2019). "YouTuber MrBeast's tree-planting campaign reached its goal of raising $20 million. Here's the list of prominent people who have donated, including Elon Musk, Jeffree Star, and even the CEO of YouTube". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  22. ^ Lunchly. "About". Lunchly. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  23. ^ "Team Seas". teamseas.org. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  24. ^ "Time 100". Time. April 13, 2023. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  25. ^ Brown, Abram. "The Highest-Paid YouTube Stars: MrBeast, Jake Paul And Markiplier Score Massive Paydays". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  26. ^ Sorvino, Chloe (November 30, 2022). "Could MrBeast Be The First YouTuber Billionaire?". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  27. ^ Gerken, Tom (September 22, 2024). "MrBeast: Inside the scandal facing King of YouTube". BBC. Retrieved October 6, 2024.


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