Jimmy, “MrBeast”, Donaldson, philanthropist, successful entrepreneur, burger aficionado, near-billion dollar valuation creator, and YouTuber has made it in Time’s Time100 Leadership Series and made it on the cover. His success should be no surprise to most who are familiar, with and he gets fairly personal about how he views himself. This in-depth article by Time (physical copy link) really sheds light on his work ethic, his mom being employed by him, and how he can make anything go viral. Please go read the article from Time about him, and although I could pull important pieces from it and give my thoughts, I would rather pick apart the highlights of his career and the tactics he has used to get to where he is, such as being listed a top creator from Forbes in 2021.
If you’re curious about How YouTubers Make Money in general, check out my previous article.
Heading Towards Billionaire Status
MrBeast has launched multiple business ventures, including MrBeast Burger and his snack brand titled Feastables. MrBeast Burger is a concept burger chain that doesn’t rely on creating physical locations, instead, it is hosted through other restaurants. A restaurant can apply to run a MrBeast Burger operation, where they are trained on how to cook the food options and are shipped packaging parts. The restaurant keeps part of the profit from the sales and doesn’t have to spend on advertising. All orders are digitally completed and can only be delivered through apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, etc.
Feastables are made in a factory and sold in major retail outlets like Walmart. The idea behind the sweet treats is mostly chocolate-based, but all ingredients are sustainably sourced and of natural origins. MrBeast wanted them to be healthy alternatives to other chocolate and sweet treat options, but not focus on health so much to ruin the taste of a good chocolate bar. They recently underwent a rebrand after a lawsuit forced them to change the name of one of their products, previously named “Deez Nuts” which was a peanut butter chocolate spin on an original chocolate bar. The bars also have a new formula and can be seen in any new MrBeast YouTube video.
Beast Philanthropy
MrBeast also runs a Beast Philanthropy channel where he promotes general philanthropy, such as providing important resources to needy areas across the globe. He also runs a food bank in North Carolina which he often creates content around. The channel description reads “100% of the profits from my ad revenue, merch sales, and sponsorships will go towards making the world a better place!” This is great news for those who like philanthropy content, which is a lot of people, considering the channel’s massive 22 million subscribers. A number larger than any successful YouTuber could dream of and will likely never hit during their time sharing the platform. MrBeast has also previously stated that the person who manages the channel asks for no revenue share in return.
He Makes Digestible Content
It’s light-hearted humor with friends and easy for everyone to watch. The videos might be a little childish for some, but he’s not directly making content for children. I like to think about comparing it to something like Wheel of Fortune, which I like to watch with my family a lot. It’s not a show directly made for children or adults, it just has mass appeal with a good formula that leads to people wanting to get on the show.
MrBeast has opportunities for fans to get on his various channels and still gives them a payout if they don’t win in his gameshow-style videos. He can create tense moments with ease, and create engagement out of almost anything in his videos, and I think it’s generally harmless. There can be some discussion about whether or not he is breaking YouTube by inspiring everyone else to make the same content as him because “it just works”, however, that can be up for you to decide.
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