MrBeast

James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), better known as MrBeast (formerly MrBeast6000), is an American YouTuber, media personality, businessman, philanthropist, and actor. He is the founder of Beast Industries, a conglomerate that holds various media channels, MrBeast Burger, Feastables, Lunchly, and more. He produces high-paced YouTube videos built around elaborate challenges and philanthropic efforts that are noted for their high production values. With more than 517 million subscribers, his main channel is the most subscribed on YouTube. He is also the third most followed account on TikTok.

Donaldson was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He began posting videos to YouTube in early 2012 under the username MrBeast6000. His early uploads ranged from Let's Play videos to estimations of other YouTubers' wealth. In January 2017, after his video "I Counted to 100,000!" drew tens of thousands of views within days, his productions quickly became more extravagant. As the audience expanded, Donaldson brought longtime friends into the brand and launched companion channels including Beast Reacts (inactive as of 2026, formerly BeastHacks), MrBeast Gaming, MrBeast 2 (formerly MrBeast Shorts), and Beast Philanthropy.

He co-founded Team Trees—a fundraiser for the Arbor Day Foundation that has raised more than $24 million—and launched Lunchly, a food and snack brand meant to compete with Lunchables. He also co-founded Team Seas, a fundraiser for Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup that has raised over $30 million, and created the reality competition series Beast Games. In 2025, he co-founded Team Water, another fundraiser that raised over $40 million for WaterAid.

Donaldson won the Creator of the Year award at the Streamy Awards in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. He also won Favorite Male Creator at the 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In 2023, Time named him one of the world's 100 most influential people, and the magazine included him in its 2025 Time 100 Creators list. Forbes ranked him first among the highest-paid YouTube creators in 2024. Fortune estimated his net worth at approximately $2.6 billion in 2026.

James Stephen Donaldson was born in Wichita, Kansas, on May 7, 1998, to Susan Parisher and Charles Donaldson. He was primarily raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He moved frequently and was often cared for by au pairs because his parents worked long hours and served in the military. His parents divorced in 2007. In 2016, Donaldson graduated from Greenville Christian Academy, a private evangelical Christian high school in the area. While at Greenville Christian, Donaldson played baseball as an outfielder for several years. He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease as a teenager, which led him to stop playing sports. He briefly attended Pitt Community College in Winterville, North Carolina, before dropping out.

After dropping out of college, Donaldson and his friends attempted to analyze and understand YouTube's recommendation algorithm to create viral videos. Donaldson recalled regarding this period, "There's a five-year point in my life where I was just relentlessly, unhealthily obsessed with studying virality, studying the YouTube algorithm. I woke up. I would order Uber Eats food. And then I would just sit on my computer all day just studying shit nonstop with [other YouTubers]."

Donaldson uploaded his first YouTube video in February 2012, at the age of 13, under the channel name "MrBeast6000". His early content included Let's Plays videos focused on Minecraft and Call of Duty: Black Ops II, videos estimating the wealth of other YouTubers, videos offering advice to aspiring YouTube creators, and commentary on YouTube drama. Donaldson appeared infrequently in these videos.

From 2015 to 2018, Donaldson gained popularity with his "Worst Intros on YouTube" series, poking fun at YouTube video introductions. By mid-2016, Donaldson had around 30,000 subscribers. Donaldson dropped out of college in late 2016 to pursue a full-time career as a YouTuber. His mother disapproved of his decision and forced him to leave the family home as a result.

As his channel grew, Donaldson hired four childhood friends—Ava Kris Tyson, Chandler Hallow, Garrett Ronalds, and Jake Franklin—to contribute to his channel. Franklin left the crew in 2020, whereas Tyson left the crew in 2024.

On January 9, 2017, Donaldson published an almost day-long video of himself counting to 100,000, which became his breakthrough viral video. The ordeal took him 40 hours, with some parts sped up to "keep it under 24 hours". Donaldson gained popularity during this period with stunts, such as attempting to break glass using a hundred megaphones, watching paint dry for an hour, staying underwater for 24 hours, which ended up failing due to health issues, and an unsuccessful attempt to spin a fidget spinner for a day. By 2018, Donaldson had given out $1 million through his stunts, earning him the title "YouTube's biggest philanthropist".

In June 2017, Donaldson gained his first brand deal, from a digital collectibles app called Quidd. This partnership funded his first philanthropic video in June 2017, where he gave the entirety of the $10,000 sponsor's fee to a homeless person. This set the stage for his now-famous brand of large-scale giveaways and philanthropic stunts.

In his early career, Donaldson primarily uploaded Let's Plays videos, "best and worst" roundups, and commentary about YouTube culture. His current content usually falls into three formats: stunt challenges that demand difficult or risky tasks, so-called "junklord" experiments that rely on an unusually large quantity of a single product, and giveaway competitions that award substantial cash or prizes, often through games. Giveaway videos remain a defining element of his channel.

Donaldson designs each video to satisfy YouTube's recommendation algorithm by maximizing click-through rate and viewer retention. He focuses on striking topics, titles, and thumbnails to encourage clicks, aiming for concepts he considers "original, creative" and essential viewing. He favors bold keywords such as "24-hours" and "challenge" in titles, pairs them with simple, brightly lit thumbnails, and introduces the premise within the opening 30 seconds before promising a finale to hold attention through the usual 10–30 minute runtime.

Brand sponsorships and Google's AdSense program primarily fund Donaldson's productions. By 2022 he was reportedly spending about $1 million on each flagship video, supported by earnings from his lower-cost reaction and gaming channels. The Verge described the resulting cycle as self-perpetuating, with each viral success attracting larger brand deals and higher AdSense income that fund even bigger giveaways. Donaldson has said he prefers to reinvest the revenue so he can keep scaling his ideas. He also generates additional revenue through ventures that primarily focus on consumer goods, including MrBeast Burger, Lunchly, and Feastables.

As of 2023, Donaldson employs over 250 people, from writers to editors to producers. Many employees include people familiar with Donaldson, such as friends and family members. In September 2025, Donaldson uploaded the promotional video "I Bought the NFL", which led to a misunderstanding after some viewers thought he had actually purchased the National Football League. The video was intended to promote YouTube's first-ever free livestream of an NFL game.

In June 2020, Donaldson partnered with Brooklyn art collective MSCHF to launch Finger on the App, a one-off mobile endurance contest where players kept a finger on their phone screen until one person remained to claim $25,000. The competition ran for more than 70 hours and ended with four winners who each received $20,000. Its popularity prompted Finger on the App 2, originally slated for December 2020 but delayed until March 2021 after heavy downloads overwhelmed the servers. The sequel offered a $100,000 grand prize, and the champion outlasted the field for roughly 51 hours while the runner-up earned $20,000.

Producer Will Hyde told The Wake Weekly in November 2020 that Donaldson would debut MrBeast Burger the following month as a virtual restaurant brand. His team partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts so existing kitchens could license the menu and fulfill delivery orders through third-party apps. The concept expanded to more than 2,000 locations worldwide before opening its first physical restaurant at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on September 4, 2022. Donaldson said in 2024 that he was moving on from the venture and sought to close it because of quality concerns that he believed were hurting his brand.

Donaldson introduced Feastables in January 2022 with a line of MrBeast Bar chocolates in original, almond, and quinoa crunch flavors. The launch campaign included a sweepstakes worth more than $1,000,000, with $10,000 prizes and a challenge that mirrored Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by offering finalists a chance to compete for a chocolate factory. A June 2022 video documented the elimination-style competition, featured celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay as a judge, and culminated in a winner choosing between the factory and $500,000 in cash. Feastables generated an estimated $10 million in sales within its first few months after launch. The company introduced revised recipes and packaging in February 2024.

Donaldson unveiled the Lunchly snack-kit brand in September 2024 as a joint venture with fellow creators Olajide "KSI" Olatunji and Logan Paul. Marketed as a healthier alternative to Lunchables, the kits paired Prime drinks and Feastables chocolate bars with options such as turkey and crackers, nachos with salsa and cheese, or pizza components.

Donaldson invested in the gaming startup Backbone, supporting its Backbone One controller and companion content app for mobile players. In March 2021, he partnered with the Creative Juice financial network to launch Juice Funds, a $2 million pool that invests in emerging creators.

On October 25, 2019, Donaldson and fellow YouTuber Mark Rober launched #TeamTrees on YouTube to raise $20 million for the Arbor Day Foundation by January 1, 2020, so the group could plant one tree per donated dollar by December 2022. Creators including Rhett & Link, Marshmello, iJustine, Marques Brownlee, The Slow Mo Guys, Ninja, Simone Giertz, Jacksepticeye, and Smarter Every Day amplified the effort, and the foundation began planting in U.S. national parks that same month.

By December 19, the fundraiser had already cleared its $20 million target. High-profile donors such as Jack Dorsey, Susan Wojcicki, Elon Musk, and Tobias Lütke contributed, along with companies including Discovery, Verizon, and PopCap. Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke made the single largest pledge at 1,000,001 trees.

As of June 2025, supporters have funded more than 24.8 million trees through the initiative. A PBS Terra report noted that only six percent of the first 2,000 trees planted in one monitored location survived, highlighting the challenges of long-term reforestation.

On October 29, 2021, Donaldson and Rober introduced #TeamSeas to raise $30 million by January 1, 2022, for the Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup, with the goal of removing 30 million pounds (14 million kilograms) of debris from oceans, rivers, and beaches. Thousands of creators, among them AzzyLand, DanTDM, TommyInnit, LinusTechTips, TierZoo, LEMMiNO, The Infographics Show, Hannah Stocking, Dhar Mann, and Marques Brownlee, promoted the campaign, and BEN plus TubeBuddy's eight-million-creator initiative provided additional reach. As of June 2025, contributors have raised more than $34 million ($34,080,191) for the effort.

On August 1, 2025, Donaldson and Rober launched #TeamWater to raise $40 million for WaterAid by the end of the month. The campaign set out to deliver lasting clean-water access for two million people and enlisted more than 3,000 creators to help meet the goal. As of 22 September 2025, donations exceeded the target, totaling more than $41 million ($41,631,423).

Donaldson has described himself as an introvert, saying his focus on YouTube leaves little time for a social life. His mother, Sue, linked that temperament to the family's frequent moves and to his ongoing experience with Crohn's disease.

He dated YouTuber Maddy Spidell from 2019 to 2022, and he began a relationship with gaming streamer Thea Booysen later that year. Donaldson announced his engagement to Booysen on January 1, 2025, after proposing to her on December 25, 2024. On July 11, 2026, Donaldson announced on social media that he "may or may not be getting married". On July 21, he confirmed the marriage by posting wedding photos on social media. The pair got married on Necker Island, a private island in the British Virgin Islands owned by English business magnate Richard Branson.

Donaldson's channel became the most subscribed on YouTube on June 2, 2024, when it overtook T-Series. A February 2021 poll by Insider reported that 70% of respondents viewed him favorably and 12% unfavorably. Coverage from Time, Yahoo Life, and CNN has noted his particular appeal to younger audiences, pointing to his direct-to-camera delivery and polished but enthusiastic on-screen persona, which could encourage a parasocial relationship.

Writers such as Charissa Cheong have linked Donaldson's success to a broader shift on YouTube toward high-budget, experimental productions. Other analysts have credited his format with influencing creators such as Fidias, Matthew Beem, and Airrack, who have adopted similar high-stakes challenge videos. Donaldson's influence on entertainment has been deemed "Mr. Beastification" and "Beastification" by observers. Taylor Lorenz noted in March 2024 that Donaldson's style of "retention editing" involved "loud sound effects, fast cuts, flashing lights and zero pauses" to keep users' attention. This style was mimicked by many other content creators to the point of being the dominant format, though its dominance was beginning to wane by then; Donaldson wanted himself and others to "get rid of the ultra fast paced/overstim era of content". Anthony Padilla of Smosh felt that MrBeastification had led to a large number of copycats and "this very heavy desire for people to really get caught up in the stats".

Donaldson's approach has also drawn scrutiny. Commentators have accused Donaldson of turning philanthropy into spectacle, sometimes describing his videos as "charity porn." Critics have argued that his giveaways do little to address structural inequality. Donaldson has responded that he does not profit from Beast Philanthropy videos, that all revenue is donated, and that government action is needed to solve systemic problems.