Inside MrBeast’s Rise to Fame as YouTube’s Highest Paid Creator

Leisure gossip and information from Newsweek’s community of contributors

Jimmy Donaldson, extra popularly often called MrBeast, is without doubt one of the most-followed on-line personalities thus far –– however his success did not occur in a single day.

Donaldson, 26, grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, and began posting movies on YouTube at age 13 from his mother’s home in early 2012 as MrBeast6000. The web page primarily consisted of Minecraft and Name of Obligation let’s play movies and didn’t achieve a lot traction till 2015 and 2016 when the account garnered round 30,000 subscribers as a result of a collection titled Worst Intros, which ridiculed different YouTube video introductions.

Regardless of his mother’s insistence on attending school, Donaldson determined to drop out to make movies extra significantly, which prompted his mom to kick him out of their household house.

The YouTuber remembered his obsession with making viral movies in a podcast interview on the Colin and Samir podcast in 2021 and mentioned, “That is all I ever talked about in school. I assumed I used to be a freak of nature. Individuals would inform me, ‘All you do is speak about YouTube movies. You are too obsessive about YouTube. Get a life.'”

His dedication seemingly paid off when a video of himself counting to 100,000 went viral in 2017. Donaldson’s recognition grew exponentially after the discharge of that breakthrough video, and the identical went for the ideas of the movies that got here after. The content material on his web page often featured charity stunts like making a gift of money, automobiles, homes, and even paying for individuals’s medical procedures. By the tip of 2018, MrBeast had given away a complete of $1 million by means of his movies, incomes him the title of “YouTube’s greatest philanthropist.”

Because the channel grew, Donaldson employed his pals Chandler Hallow, Ava Kris Tyson (previously often called Chris Tyson), Jake Franklin, and Garrett Ronalds to assist with the movies and content material creation. The brand new hires appeared often in movies and sometimes competed for prizes themselves.

Within the following years, Donaldson solidified himself as a mainstream YouTuber with larger movies and making a gift of extra money. In 2019, he organized and filmed a real-life battle royale competitors in Los Angeles with prizes that totaled $200,000. One video, titled “I Opened A FREE BANK,” revealed in November of the identical yr, prompted viewers to accuse Donaldson of utilizing counterfeit cash in his movies. He later defined that the cash within the clips is faux, however the checks the winners obtain afterward are actual.

Donaldson’s content material went viral a number of occasions after 2019, together with the real-life recreation of Squid Recreation with a $456,000 prize for the winner in 2021. In January 2022, Forbes ranked Donaldson because the highest-earning creator, with an estimated $54 million in 2021.

In July 2022, Donaldson turned the second particular person YouTuber with a channel surpassing 100 million subscribers, and in November of the identical yr, he broke the Guinness document for “Most Subscribers for an Particular person Male on YouTube” with 112 million subscribers. One yr later, in November 2023, his channel surpassed the 200 million mark.

On June 2, 2024, the YouTube channel formally dethroned T-Collection, the India-based movie manufacturing firm and music label, because the most-subscribed channel on the platform, with 267 million subscribers. Donaldson uploaded a 300 million subscriber particular video on July 13 of the identical yr, titled “50 YouTubers Struggle for $1,000,000,” and it turned his channel’s most-viewed video inside 24 hours.

Regardless of being well-loved by his followers for many of his profession, their opinions appear to be shifting after a 2017 video of him utilizing homophobic and racist slurs just lately resurfaced. This prompted the net persona to problem an apology in August 2024, by which his rep informed Selection, “When Jimmy was a youngster he acted like many children and used inappropriate language whereas attempting to be humorous. Through the years he has repeatedly apologized and has discovered that growing affect comes with elevated accountability to be extra conscious and extra delicate to the facility of language.” He additionally added that, “After making some dangerous jokes and different errors when he was youthful, as an grownup he has targeted on partaking with the MrBeast group to work collectively on making a constructive affect around the globe.”

The video and apology comes after Ava Kris Tyson, one among Donaldson’s pals and frequent collaborators, minimize ties with the YouTube channel after being accused of grooming a youngster. Donaldson made a press release concerning the accusations on X (previously often called Twitter) on July 24, 2024, that mentioned, “Over the previous couple of days, I’ve develop into conscious of the intense allegations of Ava Tyson’s habits on-line and I’m disgusted and against such unacceptable acts.” Within the assertion he later explains that he’s targeted on hiring an impartial third celebration to research the accusations. Donaldson additionally mentions that he has “taken instant motion to take away Ava from the corporate, my channel, and any affiliation with MrBeast.

Discuss surrounding the accusations was reignited on October 27, 2024, after YouTuber Rosanna Pansino shared a video of allegedly inappropriate textual content conversations between Donaldson and his staff, together with Tyson. Pansino later introduced that she had reported her findings and issues to the FBI in hopes that they “will look into these MrBeast Telegram Firm Chats Logs and different issues,” in a submit on X.

Donaldson has not made a touch upon Pansino’s video and her cooperation with the FBI but.