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?