Next on the menu
While Donaldson’s been dominating the YouTube game in recent years, he’s also found time to expand the empire into the culinary world as well. The creator’s initial foray into the world of food and drink came back in 2020 when he opened up “the world’s first free restaurant”, as the eatery’s website puts it, just a few miles from his hometown in North Carolina.
The stunt racked up 150m views, but it also served as an announcement for the new chain of 300 virtual MrBeast Burger restaurants across the US. A burgeoning force in the world of modern food delivery, virtual restaurants or “dark kitchens” are establishments where items like the Beast Style Burger can only be ordered via online delivery apps. However, Donaldson did actually open his first permanent MrBeast Burger store in late 2022, with ~10,000 people showing up at the New Jersey branch’s grand opening.
A sweeter side
Just over a year after the announcement of his new chain of burger joints, the 24-year-old launched his snack brand Feastables. In typical MrBeast fashion, there was a video to help promote the product where Donaldson offered every fan who bought one of his Feastables chocolate bars the chance to win a purpose-built chocolate factory or $500k in cash. The confectionary has rolled out to Walmarts nationwide since, with MrBeast even controversially offering fans $5k to help maintain in-store presentation in some branches.
In addition to his business ventures, which have each come with massive hype at their launch, Donaldson has used his platform to promote charitable initiatives as well. He was a co-creator of Team Trees — the fundraiser that's planted almost 25 million trees — and ocean cleanup project Team Seas, working with other YouTubers on his environmental endeavors.
