Who is Mr. Beast?
Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, is an American YouTube personality who pioneered a unique genre of YouTube videos that focuses on ridiculously expensive stunts. As of 2022, the MrBeast channel has reached over 100 million subscribers and has become the fifth most subscribed channel on YouTube. Jimmy also runs several other YouTube channels including Beast Reacts, MrBeast Gaming, MrBeast Shorts, and Beast Philanthropy, where he gives away a lot of free stuff and money to random people. Donaldson, aside from being one of the 10 highest-paid YouTubers of 2020, is also the founder of MrBeast Burger, one of the biggest burger chains in America, and Feastables, a food company that sells chocolate bars called "MrBeast Bars".
Early Life
Jimmy Donaldson was born on May 7, 1998 in the state of Kansas, but grew up in Greenville North Carolina with his brother CJ or Charles, also a YouTuber with four million subcsribers who goes by the name MrBro. Jimmy graduated from Greenville Christian Academy, a private secondary school in the area, and attended East Carolina University briefly before dropping out to go full time on YouTube. Donaldson began posting videos on YouTube in 2012 at the age of 13 under the handle MrBeast6000, where he plays video games while commenting on the estimated wealth of other YouTubers. He went viral in 2017 after posting his "Counting to 100,000" video which earned thousands of views in just a few days, and has become increasingly popular since then, with most of his uploaded videos gaining millions of views.
Deciding to Become a Full-time YouTuber
Using the handle "MrBeast6000", Jimmy's content focused on Let's Play videos, where he records playing Minecraft, and Call of Duty Black Ops 2 videos, while commenting on the wealth of famous YouTubers like PewDiePie, Logan Paul, and many others. In 2016, Donaldson started to become popular with his "worst intros" series, tackling bad YouTube video introductions, gaining 30,000 subscribers at that time. In the fall of the same year, Jimmy dropped out of East Carolina University to become a full-time YouTuber, and got kicked out of their home by his mother who wasn't very happy with him dropping out. As the MrBeast channel continued to grow, Donaldson hired four of his childhood friends - Chris, Chandler, Garrett and Jake to help him grow his channel.
Crazy is the Secret to YouTube
In January 2017, after working 40 hours on a stunt, Jimmy uploaded an almost day-long video of himself counting up to 100,000 with some parts sped up to keep the video under 24 hours. This was how he figured out that stunts were the key to success in YouTube, uploading more crazy videos such as attempting to break glass using hundreds of megaphones, or attempting to stay underwater for 24 hours, or attempting to spin a fidget spinner for a day. In 2018, Donaldson had given out a total of $1 million through his eccentric stunts, which earned him the title of "YouTube's biggest philanthropist". Jimmy and his team constantly contacted numerous YouTubers to obtain the statistics of their most succesful videos so they could predict YouTube's recommendation system.
The Formula to Going Viral
Jimmy's videos are known to have unique elements for going viral, which is how he gains advertising sales of tens of millions of dollars, as the YouTube platform recommendation system promotes his videos to bigger audiences. According to The Detroit News, his videos contain internet challenges, guest appearances, and reaction videos - three of the most popular video genres online. Donaldson had also popularised the use of catchy clickbait titles to draw more audience to click on his video by using crazy titles like "I Adopted EVERY Dog in a Dog Shelter" or "I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive" or "Saying Pewdiepie 100,000 Times". According to Jimmy, large monetary prizes have also been crucial in viewer engagement which is why the videos often involve him donating large amounts of money, with a majority of these videos being sponsored by various companies.
MrBeast Burger
Donaldson posted on his Twitter account that he had been planning to create a burger chain "for forever" and finally opened the first MrBeast Burger location in Wilson, North Carolina on November 10, 2020. As part of a YouTube video, Donaldson advertised the restaurant by giving away free food, money, tech, and even a new car to visitors who lined up in the building's drive-through. In December 2020, Jimmy announced the official opening of 300 locations across the United States, and has also announced that a portion of each order would be donated to charities that support food security worldwide. After uploading the MrBeast Burger video, it immediately reached the #1 trending spot on YouTube, and the corresponding MrBeast Burger apps rose to the top spot on the Google Play Store and Apple Store, causing a temporary service outage for some users, as the the download rate had become so overwhelming.
MrBeast Philanthropy
Over the last few years, Jimmy has been slowly shifting from the attention-grabbing stunts on YouTube and have leaned towards more philanthropically minded videos by creating the channel MrBeast Philanthropy. With the help of CEO Darren Margolias, Jimmy and the team have been doing helms of weekly food and clothing drives, and launching #TeamTrees, where the goal is to plant 20 million trees nationwide. Donaldson, not having a lot of exposure to philanthropy growing up, after experiencing giving money from brand deals to homeless people, wants to school an entirely new generation of audience to the benefits of unconditional giving. Jimmy wants to change the mentality that giving money to charity is a burden or sacrifice, and wants people to realize that helping is enjoyable and beautiful.
Mr Self Help
Despite being one of the biggest YouTube channels being subscribed, Donaldson claimed he doesn't often watch YouTube videos anymore and has instead become deeply consumed on self improvement. Jimmy installed a gym in the middle of his kitchen, to try and change the concept of what a kitchen is for, so he can work out instead of grab a snack. He has also drowned himself with book biographies of highly successful people, recently finishing Michael Jordan's biography. Donaldson has also hired a life coach, who told him that successful men peak at age 40, giving him a decade left to keep pushing himself forward.
Planting 20 Million Trees and Removing 30 million Pounds of Trash from Oceans
Since 2013, Jimmy Donaldson has gone from making gaming-commentary videos in his bedroom, to employing 60 full time staff, not including independent contractors in his team. Jimmy has also launched high-profile projects such as the #TeamTrees campaign, where he plans to set a goal of planting 20 million trees all over the world; and #TeamSeas, where he aims to remove 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean. Donaldson's company is in the process of building three content production stations in his hometown of Greenville, and hopes to position North Carolina as ground zero for content creators in digital media publishing. Jimmy models himself after his entrepreneur heroes Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, portraits of whom are in his office and living room, and believes that he can someday change the world like they did.
Other Investment Ventures
On top of all the gigs Jimmy Donaldson is involved in, he is also an investor in the tech startup Backbone, which is currently in the process of producing the Backbone One, a controller that makes smartphones appear more similar to Nintendo Switch controllers. In March 2021, Jimmy also partnered with Creative Juice Financial Network, to introduce Juice Funds, a $2 million investment fund for content creators. The month after, Donaldson also became a long-term investor and partner of the financial tech company Current, a company that helps people create better financial outcomes by leveraging the best technology existing. Jimmy has also announced partnership with Turtle Beach Corporation, a gaming accessory manufacturer, and Roccat, a German computer accessories manufacturer in Hamburg.
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