Atlanta Falcons v Tampa Bay Buccaneers MrBeast

Youtube personality MrBeast (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

YouTube is MrBeast’s springboard

271 million subs, 50 billion views, and much more up his sleeve.

6/5/24 7:42AM

MrBeast, aka 26-year-old Jimmy Donaldson, broke YouTube’s record to become the platform’s most-subscribed-to channel over the weekend. Since surpassing T-Series, a Bollywood-video channel that’s held YouTube’s top spot for six years, MrBeast widened his lead, adding an additional 3 million to hit 271 million total subs. With that loyal following, he also recently blew by the 50-billion views milestone on his channel.

But the main MrBeast YouTube channel is just one part of the mega-celeb’s sprawling empire.

MrBeast told Time in February that he makes up to $700 million annually (which he said he reinvests back into his videos), and according to LinkedIn, he has over 400 employees.

Mr Beast main channel views — MrBest main channel hit 50B views as of May 30, 2024

Let’s break it down

On top of MrBeast's main YouTube account, he has four YouTube sub-channels, like MrBeast Gaming, with a combined 144 million subscribers (meaning he has 415 million total subs). He’s also dabbled off YouTube: over on X, Elon Musk invited MrBeast to post a video that made $250,000.

Then there’s his offline endeavors: MrBeast is clearly trying to expand his biz beyond massive cash giveaways and morally questionable stunts (classics include “Ages 1 - 100 Fight For $500K” and “I Spent 7 Days Buried Alive”). The YouTuber expanded into the food biz with his Feastables chocolate line (sold in major grocery stores) and 300+ “MrBeast’s Burgers” locations (mostly ghost kitchens).

He’s since sued the burger joints’ management company over “inedible” burgers. But still, the beleaguered burger operation reportedly made $100 million in revenues two years after its launch.

Next up: MrBeast sealed a deal estimated to be worth up to $100,000 with Amazon to make a “Beast Games” reality show for Prime Video that would see 1,000 people compete for a prize of $5 million (so on brand). MrBeast has also been posting on X about a potential $10/month membership plan for his biggest fans to access exclusive videos and podcasts.

First YouTube. Next… the world?

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Tamagotchis are making a comeback, 3 decades after first becoming a global toy craze

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Now, on the brand’s 30th anniversary, the Tamagotchi — the Japanese pocket-sized virtual pet that launched a thousand cute and needy tech companions, from Nintendogs to fluffy AI robots — is making a minor comeback.

Tamagotchi Google Search Trends — Sherwood News

Looking at Google Trends data, searches for “tamagotchi” spiked in December in the US, up around 80% from just six months prior, with the most search volume in almost two decades.

While the toys are popular Christmas gifts, with interest volumes often seen ticking up in December each year, the sudden interest might also have something to do with the birthday celebrations that creator and manufacturer Bandai Namco are putting on, including a Tokyo exhibition that opened on Wednesday.

Game, set, hatch

More broadly, modern consumers appear to have a growing obsession with collectibles (see: Labubu mania), as well as a taste for nostalgia (see: the iPod revival, among many other trends).

But, having finally hit 100 million sales in September last year, the brand itself is probably just glad to exist, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience the profound grief of an unexpected Tamagotchi death.