How MrBeast made his money is a question frequently leveled at the extravagantly generous YouTube personality, but as he gives everything he has away, how did MrBeast get his money? While he started as a gaming streamer, Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a MrBeast, is an internet sensation whose YouTube channel has racked up over 6 billion views since he started in 2012 at the age of 13. Over two decades later, MrBeast has a mammoth 154 million subscribers on his main account, while MrBeast Gaming has over 30 million. Donaldson’s loyal fanbase is a critical factor in making him one of the richest YouTubers of all time.
The giveaway-happy MrBeast first rose to worldwide prominence in 2018, after a video of the YouTube star donating $10,000 to a homeless man went viral. MrBeast has since become synonymous with the aggressive philanthropy he practices, with his generous giveaways and feel-good challenges handing out millions in the last few years. Donaldson’s viral stunts in 2021 was a recreation of the Netflix drama sensation Squid Game, in which 456 people compete in a series of Korean childhood games for a grand prize of $456,000. In 2023, MrBeast gave away donated $2 million worth of clothing. So, how rich is MrBeast, and how did MrBeast make his money?
How MrBeast Got His Money
The question of how much money does MrBeast have often crops up in the aftermath of his increasingly generous donations. MrBeast’s popularity is a massive factor here, with MrBeast earning a high pay-per-1000-views rate from his 90 million on-platform subscribers (across three self-owned channels). Fall Guys favorite MrBeast also receives huge sums from high-profile sponsors looking to advertise on his videos, which coupled with his own wildly successful merch store ensures Donaldson is a man of elite wealth.
The money made by MrBeast’s early videos enabled him to drop out of college to make YouTube his full-time career, and then generate enough income to start handing out money. After MrBeast garnered worldwide attention for his charity in 2018, his worth skyrocketed exponentially over the next two years. The Youtuber’s unique brand of online philanthropy instantly attracted a host of wealthy sponsors, including Quidd, CSGO Lotto, Honey, TikTok, and many others in 2021 alone. These prominent brands donate huge sums to Donaldson, with MrBeast stating that he recycles the majority of this funding back into increasingly grandiose giveaways and production costs, as well as his growing self-branded merchandise.
How Much Money MrBeast Makes In A Year From YouTube
Funding and MrBeast’s Youtube revenue stream are only the tip of the iceberg regarding. YouTube employs a payment system where an agreed sum is paid per thousand views, with the payment increasing alongside the streamer’s popularity. For context, MrBeast’s Squid Game recreation video amassed 4,584,856 views in less than two hours after its initial YouTube upload, and it now sits at over 424 million views. Several outlets have previously reported that Donaldson could be earning as much as $40,000 per day from his YouTube content alone, which adds up to a whopping $15 million a year from YouTube payouts.
However, how much money MrBeast makes from YouTube in a year stopped needing to be a point of speculation in early 2022 when it was revealed (via Forbes) that in 2021, MrBeast made $54 million off his various YouTube channels alone. This staggering amount is more than double the YouTube income of the most wealthy YouTuber of 2020 (Ryan Kaji at $29.5 million). MrBeast’s Squid Game video brought him even more attention, capitalizing on the worldwide success of the gripping Korean drama to rake in a staggering number of views. While it’s impossible to predict what MrBeast might do next, he’s sure to continue making millions off YouTube.
How Rich Is MrBeast?
Much like the origin of his wealth, the answer to how rich is MrBeast is far from straightforward. MrBeast’s net worth is on an upward trajectory that shows no signs of slowing. In November 2021, it was estimated that MrBeast was worth as much as $25, with the (now Emmy-eligible) YouTuber MrBeast taking home approximately $3 million per month from his combination of YouTube royalties, sponsorship payments, and merchandise profits. This skyrocketing personal value ensures MrBeast’s giveaways and donations will continue to escalate accordingly as his avid YouTube audiences eagerly await Donaldson’s next philanthropic stunt.
MrBeast’s Biggest Charity Projects
MrBeast’s biggest charity effort to date is called TeamSeas, an ocean cleanup initiative for which MrBeast teamed up with fellow YouTuber Mark Rober to raise $30 million with the goal of removing 30 million pounds of trash from the seas. Prior to the success of TeamSeas, MrBeast donated one million meals to families in need during a November 2021 food drive, spending $500,000 and in the process achieving a huge donation milestone to date, surpassing the time he gave away $456,000 in his Squid Game video. However, his latest charity venture puts those numbers to shame.
In April 2023, MrBeast gave away almost $3 million worth of clothing to homeless shelters and low-income areas, handing out Nike, Adidas, and many other popular clothing brand items (via MrBeast Burger). In February 2023, it was revealed that he paid for 1000 blind people to have their sight restored too (via NME). Combined with MrBeast’s YouTube earnings, the fast growth of his gaming-dedicated channel and his growing influence over multi-million dollar brands that want to support his charity work mean that audiences could soon see a much larger number overtaking MrBeast’s most significant donations in the past.
MrBeast Is The Second YouTuber Ever To Reach 100 Million Subs
Considering MrBeast has over 150 million subscribers, it’s an easy answer to the question “how did MrBeast make his money?” MrBeast hit the 100-million-subscriber milestone in July 2022, and livestreamed his reaction, thanking his many fans and supporters. In the live stream, the YouTuber said, “I appreciate every single one of you that watches the videos. This is literally all I’ve ever done with my life. All I do is wake up every day and obsess over how to make the best videos possible.” MrBeast also said that he certainly hasn’t run out of ideas for YouTube videos, planning to keep his channel going for 20 to 30 years.
Are MrBeast’s Charity Donations Ethical?
MrBeasts philanthropic endeavors have been called “poverty porn” and “random charity of a moneyed internet star” (via ABC), The issue with MrBeast is that his philanthropy is his business model, and giving away money is how he makes even more money. MrBeast might have donated $2.7 million worth of clothes to homeless shelters, he would have made way more than that for a Youtube video that documented the spectacle. Ultimately, MrBeast is profiting off of what he calls “charity,” and it’d be way more charitable and humble if MrBeast didn’t document every $10 he handed out.
However, the internet went overboard when MrBeast paid for 1000 people’s surgery to get their sight back. Twitter users claimed that MrBeast had a god complex (via Forbes). Though MrBeast’s Youtube video of the three-week event might have come off cringey to some viewers, he gave 1000 blind people their sight back, and they likely would never have gotten their sight back if it wasn’t for him, the same goes for the clothing the homeless and his many other philanthropic adventures. In a world where billionaires are spending their money on trips into space, a young Youtuber is doing more than many of them, and he really doesn’t have to.