MrBeast: How the world's biggest YouTuber made his millions

Jimmy Donaldson, the idiosyncratic the online satellite knows arsenic MrBeast, is the biggest YouTuber connected the satellite - and with that popularity comes ample sums of money.

The 25-year-old has branched retired from video-making and present has his ain fast-food chain, MrBeast Burger. It deed headlines this week erstwhile he sued the institution down the chain, claiming fans thought the nutrient was "revolting".

But it's inactive YouTube that helium is champion known for. In November 2022, Forbes estimated helium earned $54m (£42.5m) successful a twelvemonth from the platform, combining advertizing gross from videos and sponsorship deals. Since then, helium has gained 60 cardinal much subscribers connected his main channel, taking his full 172 million.

And helium has respective different channels with tens of millions of subscribers, including 1 for philanthropy and 1 for video games.

It's unclear precisely however overmuch wealth helium really pockets though. Donaldson has go known for putting the wealth helium makes backmost into his ultra-expensive videos, immoderate of which instrumentality millions to produce. He told a podcast successful June that helium reinvests "every penny I make".

It is this attack to contented that mightiness statesman to explicate wherefore the American YouTuber attracts specified elephantine audiences - due to the fact that it allows him to rise the stakes.

Contrast that with 2017, wherever his biggest videos included him saying "Logan Paul" 100,000 times implicit the people of 17 hours, and 1 wherever helium tipped hundreds of dollars to pizza transportation drivers. Each received betwixt 20 and 40 cardinal views.

Outside of his videos, Donaldson is known for his philanthropy, arsenic good arsenic galore concern ventures. He has a licensed foundation which functions arsenic a nutrient slope to provender communities crossed the US, and helium has helped rise tens of millions of dollars to assistance the environment.

And successful summation to MrBeast Burger - portion of a task helium is present trying to backmost retired of - helium has besides launched a scope of snacks called Feastables, which helium says are consistently selling retired successful the UK.

YouTubers tin trust connected ads to marque up a chunk of their income - but sometimes that doesn't screen MrBeast's costs.

For example, Donaldson revealed to his Twitter subscribers successful July that his latest video, which outgo an estimated $3m to produce, had netted him $167,000 successful advertisement payments aft a fewer days. Even implicit the beingness of the video, it would beryllium improbable to recoup the cost.

That's wherever sponsorship deals travel in. For immoderate contented creators, this tin marque up adjacent much of their income than ads themselves.

Lucy Edwards, a YouTuber with 705,000 subscribers - who became BBC Radio 1's archetypal unsighted presenter successful 2019 - told the BBC that overmuch of her income comes done these marque partnerships.

"I americium presently the look of Pantene, a shampoo and hairsbreadth attraction brand, globally," she said.

"And past I besides person much one-off campaigns rather regularly, perchance astir 4 to 5 activations a period - we gain a minimal magnitude from TikTok and YouTube [ads]."

She tends to trust connected overmuch shorter contented than Donaldson, with her astir fashionable video lasting conscionable 2 and a fractional minutes successful length, but racking up 2 cardinal views.

She said YouTubers similar MrBeast could perchance gain much acknowledgment to the magnitude of his videos, which are typically betwixt 10 and 20 minutes long.

"If you were a long-form creator, having post-roll, pre-roll, mid-roll ads, and your contented is longer than 8 minutes, you'll beryllium getting a batch of advertisement revenue," she said.

"But each the brands besides are wanting short-form content, truthful you've ever got to person a equilibrium of the two."

Donaldson's videos tin beryllium hard to categorise.

They volition typically impact a challenge, specified arsenic a video surviving hours successful Antarctica, oregon large currency prizes - a $1m crippled of fell and seek, for example.

But his astir caller video, successful which a bid is driven disconnected its rails and into a elephantine pit, fails to acceptable that format.

Steven Bridges, himself a YouTuber with 470,000 subscribers, told the BBC it is Donaldson's creativity that has driven his growth: "I deliberation the absorbing happening astir MrBeast is his implicit dedication to making what helium considers the champion video possible.

"When helium uploads, radical click. They cognize that erstwhile they click connected a MrBeast video, there's going to beryllium a heck of a batch of effort gone into making it truly entertaining."

Bridges has reinvented himself connected YouTube successful caller years, moving from contented astir magic to paper counting. His astir fashionable video, showcasing a fashionable scam utilized to instrumentality tourists successful London, has been viewed 4.6 cardinal times.

"It's really, truly tricky to prolong a 10-year vocation connected YouTube," helium said.

"But MrBeast is conscionable focusing connected the 1 happening that truly matters - putting the assemblage archetypal and thinking: 'What tin I springiness them that they're truly going to love'?"

One of the large reasons down Donaldson's occurrence connected YouTube mightiness simply beryllium his likeable property - adjacent erstwhile helium overtook PewDiePie to go the apical contented creator connected the platform, his rival simply congratulated him and said helium deserved it.

But portion Donaldson is the most-subscribed idiosyncratic individual connected YouTube, helium is immoderate mode disconnected having the biggest azygous YouTube channel.

T-Series, an Indian euphony video publishing company, leads the mode successful that class with much than 246 cardinal subscribers.

But with 172 cardinal and counting, it would beryllium a brave idiosyncratic who bets against Donaldson 1 time becoming the archetypal YouTuber since PewDiePie to dethrone T-Series astatine the top.