How MrBeast built a YouTube empire by age 26

MrBeast and $5 billion: how a YouTuber became a media giant#

While you're banning your kids from games and social media, MrBeast is planning to raise $200 million and go public at a $5 billion valuation.

It all started with gaming and counting to 100,000#

Jimmy Donaldson launched his channel at 13. He got his first wave of fame in 2017 — with a video of himself counting out loud to 100,000.

Shows, giveaways, and chocolate bars#

Since then the format has expanded: reality shows, competitions, a Squid Game knockoff, giving away piles of cash. He now has 371 million subscribers, 66 billion views, and $500 million in revenue — half from content, half from his chocolate bar brand.

What the MrBeast business empire actually looks like#

Money from content gets poured right back into making even more expensive content. The team runs on a pretty sophisticated playbook — they recently published a guide to it, worth a read.

MrBeast is 26. Never finished college. So what do you want your kids to be when they grow up?