Is MrBeast the world’s most controversial YouTuber? Meet the 22-year-old famous for giving millions to strangers and opening a free restaurant during Covid-19
- He convinced Elon Musk and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey to donate money to his fundraiser to plant 20 million trees and is known as ‘YouTube’s biggest philanthropist’
- He currently has 62 million subscribers and consistently clocks 10 million viewers per video – but staff have recently spoken out his ‘toxic’ work culture
At just 22 years old, Jimmy Donaldson – better known as Mr Beast – is one of the most viewed and highest-paid creators on YouTube.
He is known for such stunts as reading every word in the dictionary, turning a backyard into a ball pit, buying everything in a store, and giving away a million dollars – but only giving people one minute to spend it. His ambitious challenges and cash giveaways have helped him grow his channel to almost 62 million subscribers.
Still, not everyone loves Donaldson. The New York Times recently published a damning article about the star, in which former employees described a toxic work environment – a stark contrast from his public image.
Here’s how MrBeast rose to fame.
How he got started
MrBeast was born as Jimmy Donaldson on May 7, 1998.
The YouTube star and his brother, CJ, grew up in eastern North Carolina in the city of Greenville. In 2016, he graduated from Greenville Christian Academy, a private senior school in the area.
Donaldson uploaded his first ever YouTube video in February 2012, when he was just 13 years old.