Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, is the biggest Youtuber in the world. Forbes estimates him to be valued at $500 million.
Buying a 10 percent stake in his production company could cost an investor, based on MrBeast’s asking, as much as 150 million dollars, making him the first Youtuber to be worth a little over a billion and a half dollars. Market experts may agree with that value.
MrBeast has over 126 million subscribers. Has been the top influencer in recent years. He won the 2022 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Social Media Star, and his sphere of influence has grown exponentially.
The most viewed video from his main channel is his accurate recreation of the set of the movie Squid Game, which has accumulated 334 million views as of today.
“I recreated every single set from Squid Game in real life, and whichever one of these 456 people survives the longest wins $456,000.”, Donaldson says at the beginning of the video,
The production value was just astonishing, and so was the cost. He spent $3.5 million on the video.
MrBeast brand expansion
He has invested in other business ventures, including the MrBeast burger food chain, which has over 1700 virtual locations throughout the United States. He has sold more than a million burgers since it started.
His first brick-and-mortar store opened at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey last year. On the store’s grand opening, they were visited by over 10000 people and served around 5000 burgers which is a record.
He also has his chocolate brand called Feastables. It’s made out of natural cacao and has only five ingredients. Venture capitalists invested $5 million to start it. Immediately, he was able to sell $10 million of the product after his launch last year.
The secret of the beast’s success
His success has been attributed to countless hours of hard work and dedication. He started posting videos on Youtube when he was 13 years old.
He’s been creating videos for over 10 years, and during the early part, he spent hours watching other people’s videos. He is learning as much as possible and using the accumulated knowledge to constantly improve his content.
The first $10000 he earned, he gave away. He soon discovered that the more he shared his blessings, the easier it was for him to make more money. That’s how his formula for success was born.
“My overarching goal is to make a lot of money and then, before I die, give it away.” MrBeast famously said.
He soon collaborated with other Youtubers and helped them gain more subscribers.
This attitude has gained him more fans who appreciate his generosity and grounded personality.
The success he’s attained seems to grow leaps and bounds. There was a point after he posted his Squid Game video that he increased his YT subscribers by 10 million in one day.
He puts back what he earns
He also spends a lot of money to make his videos entertaining, like putting up a million dollars as prize money for a game of hide and seek with some of Youtube’s top influencers like Logan Paul participating.
These videos are highly watchable. The payoff is also substantial regarding the increased following, engagement, and revenue. The only drawback now is after the highly successful Squid Game, the pressure to maintain such a high standard is more significant than ever. Therefore, it takes longer for him to create a new one.
Some subscribers have already commented on having to watch content from other creators due to how long it takes for MrBeast to post the following video. He did resolve this by setting up other channels like MrBeast 2, MrBeast Gaming, Beast Philanthropy, and Beast Reacts.
The future is bright
It will not come as a big surprise if MrBeast becomes global; as a matter of fact, he’s already come up with a brilliant idea of translating his videos into different languages. And this has totally worked as he gained more subscribers abroad.
His Squid Game video, based on the analytics, showed that five million people from South Korea watched it right after it was posted. He has set his sights on expanding his subscriber base and eventually dominating Youtube for years to come, which at the moment, he already does.
It couldn’t have happened to a better person. It’s a sentiment thousands of his followers share. He will be the best example if you’ve heard of the term Effective Altruism.
MrBeast shows that timeless virtues such as authenticity and generosity sell in this brave new world we call social media. He genuinely cares about his fans, and that’s what really matters.
Don’t be surprised if the next thing you know, you catch yourself walking on BGC High Street, taking a massive bite of your Feastables bar, and being happy about it.
Photo of Jimmy Donaldson on cover photo taken from Shopify.com
