The popular American YouTuber, MrBeast has become the most followed individual on YouTube with 112 million subscribers.
It was the first change at the top in almost 10 years in the history of YouTube. So, who is MrBeast— the most popular Youtuber?
Who is MrBeast—the most popular Youtuber?
The YouTube channel, MrBeast is run by Jimmy Donaldson, an American personality. The young American, who is in his late twenties, runs five YouTube channels — MrBeast (the main channel), Beast Philanthropy, MrBeast 2, MrBeast Gaming, and Beast Reacts.
On May 7, 1998, Jimmy Donaldson was born. He was born in eastern North Carolina in the city of Greenville, United States. He graduated from Greenville Christian Academy, a private school in the area, and went on to attend East Carolina University which he didn’t continue. According to a tweet he posted in 2019, he dropped out after his mother made him leave home.
How did MrBeast start his YouTube career?
The start of Jimmy’s creator journey began very early, at the age of 13, in 2012.
Under the username ‘MrBeast6000’, the creator started uploading videos primarily with Minecraft and Call of Duty Let’s Play. His very first video is called “Worse Minecraft Saw Trap Ever???” and is still on the platform. That Thanks to his diehard fanbase, that video currently sits at a comfortable 12 million views an avid video gamer, one day, he found a hack for the battleship game Battle Pirates and took a screen recording for YouTube to share with fellow gamers. He uploaded that video. The video quickly hit 20,000 views which was an unusually large number for someone with only a handful of subscribers.
MrBeast soon realized that he could gain subscribers if he produced more unique content, thus he started experimenting with uploading videos.
He tried his hands at whatever he thought would bring him clicks and up his game on the video platform. Like, he estimated the net worth of YouTube personalities, offered tips on the promotion of YouTube content, and commented on other events on the forum from time to time. Nevertheless, his initial posts could bring him only a few thousand views.
In mid-2016 MrBeast started to share reaction videos which helped him in gaining around 30,000 followers.
The same year, MrBeast aka. Donaldson began to produce videos that featured funny compilations of YouTube introductions, which gained him immense popularity. In his ‘Worst Intros on YouTube Series’, he criticized the introductions of other YouTube stars. Although these videos are now private and are unavailable for the public to view.
MrBeast’s first popular upload that went viral by chance was “I Counted to 100,000!”. This was something that the YouTube world Hard never seen before. It is a 23-hour, 48-minute, 4-second-long video. Uploaded on January 8, 2017, it marked the beginning of the impossible challenges genre, which helped propel the YouTuber to the very top. That video currently has about 26 million views.
Since 2017, MrBeast’s videos have been particularly l about bizarre actions, expensive stunts, survival challenges, vlogs, and luxurious getaways. He has even posted videos of himself challenging others to “sit in a bathtub of snakes”. He has even created real-life sets of Squid Game and has gone around recording himself offering people $100,000 to quit their jobs.
A few months ago, he shared a video titled, “I Survived a Plane Crash”, which has over 65 million views.
And, in addition to these videos of his risk-taking endeavors, he posted another video “I Spent 50 hours Buried Alive,” which has about 205 million views.
With his hilarity and exceptional risk-taking abilities, he became an internet sensation. In 2019 he was one of the most-viewed web creators on YouTube with about 27 million subscribers. While garnering 10 billion views on his videos, he earned a record $54 million in 2021, said a Forbes report. On July 28, MrBeast became the second person after PewDiePie surpassed 100 million subscribers on his main channel.
While MrBeast’s first popular upload went viral by chance, his rise to the top happened because he boldly took risks, worked for long days, and carefully studied his audience.
Why is Mr. Beast so popular?
MrBeast, who has pioneered the expensive stunt-based genre of YouTube videos, has also earned the title of YouTube’s biggest philanthropist.
By 2018, MrBeast had contributed nearly $1 million towards charitable causes.
Besides his unusual videos, he also holds giveaway contests, participates in charitable initiatives, and runs a virtual eatery, ‘MrBeast Burger’.
He runs a philanthropy channel, “Beast Philanthropy” that has the mission to end hunger and food insecurity by assisting underserved communities in eastern North Carolina and other parts of the US. It is a mobile food distribution network that runs a food pantry and transports food to needy people. So far, the official website claims that it has served more than 221,455 individuals in the region.
MrBeast has also launched a fundraising challenge named, #TeamTrees, along with former NASA engineer Mark Rober in October 2019. The aim is to raise $20 million for Arbor Day Foundation, an American nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees around the country.
MrBeast’s most charitable instance was when he donated $10,000 to a homeless man.
MrBeast was the 9th Streamy Awards winner for Breakout Creator in 2019.
He received all the Youtube Creator Awards – Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Red Diamond – in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, respectively.
MrBeast has won Favorite Male Creator at the 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards, besides being nominated in other categories at highly recognized ceremonies since 2019.
