James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is a prominent American YouTuber, media personality, and businessman recognized for his engaging and high-production-value content. He is famous for hosting elaborate challenges, often incorporating philanthropic endeavors. MrBeast holds the distinction of having the most subscribed channel on YouTube, boasting over 419 million subscribers. Furthermore, as of August 2, 2025, he was the third-most-followed creator on TikTok, with a substantial following of over 119 million.
On May 7, 1998, James Stephen Donaldson, known as MrBeast, was born. He is an American YouTuber, media personality, and businessman.
In 2007, the parents of James Donaldson, Susan Parisher and Charles Donaldson, divorced.
In February 2012, at the age of 13, James Donaldson uploaded his first YouTube video under the channel name "MrBeast6000".
In 2015, James Donaldson, known as MrBeast, gained popularity with his "Worst Intros on YouTube" series.
In 2016, 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.
In 2016, James Donaldson graduated from Greenville Christian Academy, a private evangelical Christian high school.
In January 2017, Donaldson's "counting to 100,000" video went viral, marking his breakthrough. The ordeal took him 40 hours.
Matt Turner, an editor for Donaldson was employed from February 2018 to September 2019
In May 2018, The Atlantic published an article on Donaldson's history of using homophobic slurs as a teenager on Twitter, regularly treating being homosexual as a punchline and "gay" as an insult.
By 2018, Donaldson had given out $1 million through his stunts, earning him the title "YouTube's biggest philanthropist".
During the PewDiePie vs. T-Series rivalry in 2018, Donaldson bought billboards and advertisements to help PewDiePie gain more subscribers than T-Series. During Super Bowl LIII, he purchased multiple seats for himself and his team, whose shirts spelled out "Sub 2 PewDiePie".
In March 2019, Donaldson organized a real-life battle royale competition in Los Angeles with prizes totaling $200,000 in collaboration with Apex Legends. Apex Legends publisher Electronic Arts sponsored the event and prize pool.
Matt Turner, an editor for Donaldson's team, ended employment in September 2019. Following the end of his employment, Turner alleged mistreatment.
In October 2019, Matt Turner released a deleted Twitter thread stating that he was "yelled at, bullied, called mentally retarded and replaceable by Donaldson every single day".
In October 2019, the Arbor Day Foundation started planting trees in U.S. national parks as part of the #TeamTrees project. The project was announced on October 25, 2019.
On October 25, 2019, Donaldson and Mark Rober announced #TeamTrees, a YouTube fundraising challenge to raise $20 million for the Arbor Day Foundation by January 1, 2020, to plant trees.
On November 23, 2019, Donaldson faced accusations of using counterfeit money in his "I Opened A FREE BANK" video. He clarified that fake money was used for safety, and participants received real checks afterward.
In 2019, Donaldson began dating YouTuber Maddy Spidell.
The original goal for the #TeamTrees project was to raise $20 million for the Arbor Day Foundation by January 1, 2020. The funds were to be used to plant trees, with a deadline for planting by December 2022.
In April 2020, Donaldson created a rock, paper, scissors competition stream that featured 32 influencers and a grand prize of $250,000, becoming YouTube's most-watched live Original event at the time. Nadeshot won.
In June 2020, Donaldson collaborated with MSCHF to release "Finger on the App," a one-time multiplayer mobile game where the last person to remove their finger from the screen won $25,000. Four people ultimately won $20,000 each after keeping their finger on the application for over 70 hours.
On September 17, 2020, Donaldson created the YouTube channel Beast Philanthropy, a charity and food bank, with Darren Margolias as executive director. It donates 100% of its revenue to charity.
In October 2020, Donaldson hosted an influencer trivia tournament featuring 24 competitors with a grand prize of $300,000. The winners, Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, faced cheating claims.
In November 2020, Will Hyde announced that Donaldson would launch a virtual restaurant called MrBeast Burger in December 2020. Franchise rights to serve the burgers would be sold to restaurants across the U.S., with orders via online delivery services.
In December 2020, a sequel to the mobile game, "Finger on the App 2" was planned to launch. Will Hyde also announced that Donaldson would launch a virtual restaurant called MrBeast Burger, selling franchise rights to serve burgers to restaurants across the U.S. with orders via online delivery services.
In 2020, Donaldson won the Creator of the Year award at the Streamy Awards.
In 2020, Jake Franklin left MrBeast's crew, and Karl Jacobs, previously a cameraman, was promoted to replace him.
On January 1, 2021, Donaldson released the "Youtube Rewind 2020, Thank God It's Over" video, explaining his belief that YouTubers should have more say in Rewind and citing PewDiePie's 2018 Rewind as inspiration. He signed a Facebook and Snapchat content distribution deal with Jellysmack a month later.
A February 2021 poll from Insider showed that 70% of respondents had a favorable view of MrBeast, compared to 12% who had an unfavorable view. His channel appeals strongly to younger viewers.
In February 2021, Donaldson removed entrepreneur Farokh Sarmad from a Clubhouse room after Sarmad claimed Donaldson could not pronounce his name, leading to racism allegations that were disputed by other Clubhouse users.
Due to a flood of downloads causing crashes, the mobile game "Finger on the App 2" was further delayed in March 2021. The game featured a grand prize of $100,000, and the winner kept their finger on the screen for around 51 hours.
In March 2021, Donaldson partnered with the Creative Juice financial network to introduce Juice Funds, a $2 million investment fund for content creators.
In April 2021, Donaldson became a long-term investor and partner of financial technology company Current. The same month, Donaldson received backlash after fans lost significant amounts of money in a cryptocurrency scheme that Donaldson had invested in and promoted.
In a May 2021 New York Times article, Matt Turner, a former editor for Donaldson, claimed that Donaldson verbally berated him almost daily and that he was regularly not credited for his work.
On October 29, 2021, Donaldson and Rober organized the #TeamSeas challenge on YouTube, aiming to raise $30 million by January 1, 2022, for the Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup.
In November 2021, Donaldson uploaded "$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!", a recreation of the Squid Game series, where 456 people competed for a $456,000 cash prize. It gained over 130 million views within a week. Vice criticized its misunderstanding of Squid Game's message.
In December 2021, Donaldson created a third influencer tournament featuring 15 competitors with a grand prize of $1 million.
In 2021, Donaldson won the Creator of the Year award at the Streamy Awards.
In 2021, a spokesperson for MrBeast said that he had "grown up and matured into someone that doesn't speak like that" and removed his homophobic tweets.
The goal for the #TeamSeas project was to raise $30 million for the Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup by January 1, 2022.
In January 2022, Donaldson announced the creation of Feastables, launching with MrBeast Bar in original, almond, and quinoa crunch flavors. The launch included a sweepstakes with over $1 million in prizes.
In January 2022, Forbes ranked Donaldson as YouTube's highest-earning creator, earning an estimated $54 million in 2021. Forbes stated that his income in 2021 would have placed him 40th in the 2020 Forbes Celebrity 100, earning as much money as Vin Diesel and Lewis Hamilton did in 2020.
In April 2022, MrBeast announced that he had left evangelical Christianity and identified as an agnostic theist. He disavowed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, rejecting his earlier views influenced by his upbringing.
In June 2022, a video emulating "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was released, featuring elimination challenges where the winner chose between a chocolate factory or $500,000. Gordon Ramsay was a judge in the final challenge.
On July 28, 2022, Donaldson surpassed 100 million subscribers on his main channel, making him the fifth channel and the second individual YouTuber to achieve this milestone.
On September 4, 2022, the first physical MrBeast Burger restaurant opened in the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
In September 2022, Donaldson commented on a podcast that he would consider running for president of the United States "in like 20 years", adding that the U.S. is "due for younger presidents".
In November 2022, Donaldson achieved one billion video views over 30 days on his main YouTube channel.
In November 2022, Donaldson partnered with East Carolina University to create a course centered around YouTube content creation.
On November 17, 2022, Donaldson achieved the Guinness World Record for "Most Subscribers for an Individual Male on YouTube" with 112 million subscribers on his MrBeast channel.
The deadline for planting the trees funded by the #TeamTrees fundraising campaign was set for December 2022.
In 2022, Donaldson ended his relationship with YouTuber Maddy Spidell and began dating gaming streamer Thea Booysen.
In 2022, Donaldson won the Creator of the Year award at the Streamy Awards and the Favorite Male Creator award at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
In 2022, it was reported that Donaldson spends about $1 million on each video, funded mainly by sponsorships and Google's AdSense program. He uses his reaction and gaming channels to help finance his main channel.
On March 3, 2023, Donaldson asked fans on Twitter to improve the presentation of Feastables displays in stores, suggesting they obscure competing products, and offered a $5,000 raffle for proof of assistance, which led to criticism and accusations of exploiting fans for unpaid labor.
In April 2023, after Chris Tyson acknowledged she was receiving feminizing hormone replacement therapy, MrBeast defended her against transphobic backlash, affirming his support and friendship.
In May 2023, Donaldson was featured as a guest judge on Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars show.
In June 2023, after the OceanGate submersible Titan imploded, MrBeast revealed that he had been invited on the expedition to the wreck of the Titanic but declined the offer.
On June 17, 2023, Donaldson expressed his wish to shut down MrBeast Burger due to quality issues, regretting signing "a bad deal" with Virtual Dining Concepts, LLC.
On July 31, 2023, Donaldson sued Virtual Dining Concepts in federal court to end their partnership, alleging the company damaged his reputation by prioritizing expansion over food quality.
On October 2, 2023, Feastables partnered with the Charlotte Hornets to include MrBeast's insignia on their jerseys for the 2023–24 NBA season, though the partnership has since ended.
On October 15, 2023, Donaldson surpassed 200 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
As of 2023, Donaldson employs over 250 people, including writers, editors, and producers, many of whom are friends and family members.
In 2023, Donaldson won the Creator of the Year award at the Streamy Awards and was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world.
In 2023, a free ad-supported streaming television channel named Mr. Beast that shows only previously released MrBeast YouTube videos began airing on the Roku Channel service.
In February 2024, Feastables rebranded their chocolates, introducing a new shape and formula.
In March 2024, Donaldson and Amazon MGM Studios announced their plans to create a new reality competition series Beast Games, set to air exclusively on Prime Video. It was set to become the biggest reality competition series, with 1,000 contestants competing for a $5 million cash prize—the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming.
On June 2, 2024, Donaldson surpassed T-Series to become the most subscribed channel on YouTube, with 267 million subscribers.
On July 6, 2024, during the 2024 presidential election, Donaldson joked on Twitter that he would run for president if the age requirement was lowered, clarifying his apolitical stance.
On July 10, 2024, Donaldson became the first YouTuber to surpass 300 million subscribers.
On July 13, 2024, Donaldson uploaded his 300 million subscribers special, "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000", featuring guest appearances from Howie Mandel, Miranda Cosgrove, and Joey Chestnut. It reached 71 million views in the first 24 hours.
On July 24, 2024, Donaldson removed Ava Kris Tyson from the MrBeast brand following allegations of sexual misconduct with minors. Tyson stated her decision was mutual.
In September 2024, Donaldson announced the Lunchly brand of snack kits, marketed as a healthier alternative to Lunchables, in a joint venture with YouTubers Olajide "KSI" Olatunji and Logan Paul.
In September 2024, James Donaldson, known as MrBeast, became the subject of a class action lawsuit alleging mistreatment, sexual harassment, and unpaid expenses and wages related to his reality television series.
In September 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of five former contestants of Beast Games against Donaldson, Amazon, and production companies, alleging mistreatment, sexual harassment, and unpaid expenses to gain Nevada tax credits.
On November 1, 2024, the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan concluded the allegations against Tyson were baseless after conducting "39 interviews of current and former employees" and reviewing "over 4.5 million documents from mobile phones, emails, Telegrams, Discords, WhatsApps and Slack".
On December 19, 2024, Donaldson released Beast Games on Amazon Prime Video. The television show broke numerous Guinness World Records.
On December 25, 2024, MrBeast got engaged to gaming streamer Thea Booysen.
In 2024, MrBeast ranked first on the Forbes list for the highest-paid YouTube creator.
On January 1, 2025, MrBeast announced his engagement to gaming streamer Thea Booysen, which started on December 25, 2024.
On April 25, 2025, Donaldson and Fede Vigevani hosted an influencer basketball game featuring a team of Spanish-speaking creators and a team of English-speaking creators. Neymar, Stephen Curry, and Serena Williams, made guest appearances in the video Beat Neymar, Win $500,000.
As of May 2025, MrBeast's YouTube Shorts video "Would You Fly to Paris for a Baguette?" is the most-watched video on his main YouTube channel, with over 1.5 billion views and 56 million likes.
In May 2025, Mexican authorities threatened legal action against MrBeast for his video "I Explored 2,000 Year Old Ancient Temples," which showed him violating rules at the Chichén Itzá ruins by climbing and entering temples at night. MrBeast initially claimed to have had permits and followed guidelines, but Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for an investigation into the permit conditions.
On June 1, 2025, Donaldson became the first YouTuber to surpass 400 million subscribers.
In June 2025, MrBeast, with the help of Viewstats, introduced a new AI-powered thumbnail generator that swaps faces and styles with popular videos' thumbnails. The tool allows users to use other YouTubers' thumbnails without their consent to generate new thumbnails, and suggests channels to plagiarize content from.
In July 2025, Time named MrBeast as one of the world's 100 most influential digital creators.
On August 1, 2025, Donaldson and Rober organized the #TeamWater challenge on YouTube, aiming to raise $40 million for WaterAid by the end of August 2025.
The goal for the #TeamWater project was to raise $40 million for WaterAid by the end of August 2025.
As of August 2025, MrBeast was the third-most-followed creator on TikTok, with over 119 million followers.
In 2026, Donaldson is collaborating with James Patterson on a thriller novel, to be published by HarperCollins.
Gordon Ramsay is a highly acclaimed British chef restaurateur TV...
Logan Paul is a multifaceted American personality primarily known as...
Roku Inc is an American company that owns the Roku...
Felix Kjellberg known as PewDiePie is a Swedish YouTuber famous...
Olajide Olatunji known as KSI is a multi-faceted English personality...
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency operating on a decentralized network...
10 days ago James Gunn Plans Superman Sequel Shooting Soon; Teases 'Peacemaker' Role in DCU.
10 days ago Motorcycle crash in Beloit on Cranston Road: Police investigate single-vehicle incident.
10 days ago Zion: Influencers' Storm, Hidden Trail & East Mesa Hike, Views and Fewer Crowds
10 days ago Qatar Airways and Accenture partner for AI-driven aviation excellence, creating 'AI Skyways'.
10 days ago Ketel Marte's Absence and Day Off Requests Cause Frustration Among Diamondbacks Teammates
10 days ago Jamie Lee Curtis Celebrates 'Freakier Friday' with Fan Event and Lookalike Screening
Gavin Newsom is an American politician and businessman currently serving...
John Bolton is an American attorney diplomat Republican consultant and...
Jupiter is the fifth and largest planet from the Sun...
Muhammad Ali nicknamed The Greatest was an iconic American professional...
Donald John Trump is an American politician media personality and...
George Soros is a prominent American investor and philanthropist As...