MrBeast doesn't get rich from YouTube

Beast Industries is now one of the most valuable companies founded by a content creator online. Photo: MrBeast/Instagram .

Beast Industries, a company majority owned by MrBeast, generated about $250 million in revenue from its Feastables chocolate brand last year. Profits were more than $20 million .

During the same period, the male YouTuber's media activities, including his YouTube channel and reality show broadcast on Amazon Prime Video, also achieved similar revenue, but lost nearly $80 million , according to Bloomberg .

Chocolate surpasses YouTube

In recent years, MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) has leveraged his YouTube and other social media fame to expand his business beyond media. In addition to Feastables, Beast Industries has a stake in the snack brand Lunchly and owns Viewstats, a software company that provides digital tools for content creators.

To fund these activities, Beast Industries has raised more than $450 million in the past four years. The company is now looking to raise several hundred million more to expand its existing areas and enter new markets such as gaming, beverages and healthcare.

MrBeast's business model is changing rapidly as revenue from non-YouTube areas increasingly accounts for a large proportion. According to forecasts, by 2026, Beast Industries' profits could reach around $300 million , of which media revenue accounts for only one-fifth of total revenue.

Last year, investment firm Alpha Wave led a $300 million Series C round, valuing Beast Industries at around $5 billion , up from $1.5 billion just a few months earlier. Bloomberg said this was an impressive figure. Especially when Beast Industries had lost money for three consecutive years, including a loss of nearly $60 million in 2024.

MrBeast has leveraged his fame on YouTube and other social media platforms to expand his business beyond media. Photo: MrBeast/YouTube.

On The Colin & Samir Show podcast in January, MrBeast admitted that scaling the business was a huge challenge. But Beast Industries has a unique advantage. It revolves around one of the world's most famous people. When raising capital, the company highlighted that MrBeast has the second-largest social media following, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo.

With this huge influence, Beast Industries is now one of the most valuable companies founded by an online content creator, on par with Selena Gomez's cosmetics brand Rare Beauty and Kim Kardashian's fashion line Skims.

The business empire that started from YouTube

Jimmy Donaldson started posting videos on YouTube at the age of 11. Initially, he mainly recorded himself playing Call of Duty and Minecraft . After years of studying how the platform worked, he decided to drop out of college to pursue YouTube full-time. MrBeast quickly attracted billions of views per year on his YouTube channels.

In North Carolina, he built a media empire with hundreds of employees. The production team alone numbered 200. MrBeast’s epic content came at a huge cost. Each video on the main channel could cost between $3-$4 million .

However, earning that money back is not easy. The revenue of a YouTube channel is limited, especially when only posting a few videos per month. Realizing this, MrBeast decided to expand into television. He approached major streaming platforms with the idea of a reality show.

Amazon ultimately agreed to spend $100 million to produce the first season of Beast Games , making it one of the biggest deals in reality show history.

However, Beast Industries still lost money in the first season due to production costs far exceeding $100 million . During a filming, MrBeast suddenly decided to double the prize for players, causing the budget to continue to increase. “I lost tens of millions of dollars on Beast Games ,” he shared on the Diary of a CEO podcast.

Shortly before the show premiered, YouTuber Rosanna Pansino posted a series of videos criticizing the poor conditions on set, which led to months of press scrutiny and potentially jeopardized the show’s potential for sponsorship. Ultimately, fintech company MoneyLion Technologies became the show’s primary sponsor.

Amazon claims Beast Games is their most successful reality show yet and has agreed to produce two more seasons, but has yet to agree on a budget. “I hope to break even on seasons two and three, but I'm not very good at breaking even,” MrBeast joked on The Colin & Samir Show .

MrBeast's business model is changing rapidly as revenue from areas other than YouTube becomes increasingly large. Photo: Amazon.

Not only MrBeast, many other social media stars are also turning to business. However, starting a brand is easier than maintaining it. Previously, MrBeast had a not-so-smooth experience with the MrBeast Burger restaurant chain. The result was a legal battle with the partner. But these stumbles did not diminish the male YouTuber's ambition.

Feastables launched in 2021 with the backing of Jim Murray, former president of protein bar brand RXbar. To promote the product, they held sweepstakes programs, even inviting the winner to participate in a video to compete for $500,000 . Initially, Feastables had some missteps, like packaging errors, but customers were still warmly received, according to Bloomberg .

More than 100 people now work for Feastables. The brand has expanded beyond Walmart into markets in Europe, Africa, and Asia. By 2026, media revenue will be just a small part of the company’s total revenue. “Media and content are just a marketing investment for everything else we do,” says Beast Industries’ CEO.