Youtube content has certainly changed from the simple days of accent challenges and fun back-to-school videos.

What was once a fun platform for people to post 10-minute videos about their lives and hobbies have become a means of making millions in a few short months.

Over the past five years or so, Youtube stardom has become synonymous with the multi-million dollar Los Angeles lifestyle.

Gone are the days when collaborations were the best thing audiences could watch. Now, creators partake in boxing matches and videos exposing one another.

Along with this, there is one creator who has risen rapidly to the top.

MrBeast has become of the platform’s highest-paid and most well-known creators through his videos in which he has people participate in huge challenges.

However, the thing audiences love to see is that he gives away millions in these videos.

With a net worth of $25 million, it is clear to viewers that he has the money to spare in exchange for his content to go viral every single time.

The Rise Of MrBeast

Born Jimmy Donaldson in Kansas on May 7, 1998, the creator had moderately humble beginnings.

He and his brother were primarily raised in Greenville, North Carolina, and he graduated from Greenville Christian Academy in 2016. Donaldson briefly attended East Carolina University before he dropped out. 

His first Youtube video was posted in 2013, on a channel named MrBeast6000, when he was thirteen years old.

The channel’s content began with the popular gaming genre Let’s PLays, where the creator plays a videogame and comments through voiceover.

He then began making videos where he guessed the wealth of the platform’s most prominent Youtubers and comments on the drama that occurred on the platform.

Between 2015 and 2016, Donaldson’s channel began to gain popularity. He posted a series of ‘worst intros’ videos, where he made fun of Youtuber introductions.

By mid-2016, he had gained approximately 30,000 subscribers and decided to leave college.

MrBeast finally went viral in 2017, with a video of himself counting to 100,000 was posted on his channel.

The process took him 44 hours, with sections of the video sped up to keep the video length under 24. 

Of his decision to make the video in the first place, Donaldson said, “I just really wanted it,” referring to the need to make it big, adding, “I had dropped out of college, I wasn’t really making much. I knew it would go viral.”

After four years of trying, he had finally found a niche in the Youtube algorithm.

He began posting videos of himself, spending hours upon hours doing nonsensical things to attract a following, including spinning a fidget spinner for 24 hours of watching fellow Youtuber Jake Paul’s music video for 10 hours.

He had finally hit a million subscribers by November that year – beginning to accumulate part of his now-exponential net worth. 

MrBeast: The Algorithm’s Favorite Creator

After this milestone, it seemed as though the platform couldn’t get enough of the creator.

His videos were almost always trending, and there was no way to avoid one of his thumbnails when going to the website.

Not all his videos were successful, and Donaldson made sure to post his failure on the platform. 

One of these included an attempt to stay underwater for 24 hours, which failed due to health issues Donaldson was already suffering from (he revealed he had been suffering from Crohn’s disease – making the challenge even more difficult).

He also began to give away money when he included other people in his stunts.

People who won challenges were rewarded with cash, and by 2018 he had given away $1 million. This earned him the title of ‘Youtube’s biggest philanthropist.’

Fans have categorized some videos.” as being part of “junklord Youtube.” These include stunts such as “going through the same drive-thru 1000 times” and the “last to remove hand gets a Lamborghini challenge,” where Donaldson has a ridiculous amount of cash to burn.

He has been praised for his charitable causes, engaging local audiences in environmental cleanups he posts about on the MrBeast channel.

On October 25, 2019, he teamed up with Youtuber and former NASA engineer Mark Rober to organize a fundraiser event on Youtube, calling it #TeamTrees.

The two aimed to raise $20 million for the Arbor Day Foundation by the start of 2020 and plant more trees by the end of 2022. 

In October 2021, the duo paired up once again to form #TeamSeas, a project towards ocean conservancy and cleanup.

For every dollar donated, a pound of trash is removed. 

As of December 21, they have accumulated over $20 million; thus, 20 million pounds worth of trash has been removed. 

Donaldson also launched a burger company called MrBeast Burgers to increase his net worth further. It sold over a million meals in three months.

MrBeast Is No Stranger To Controversy

Much like every other influencer, people went digging for dirt on MrBeast.

Despite unearthing old tweets in which he had used racial and homophobic slurs, social media users quickly accepted a simple apology and moved on.

In May 2021, The New York Times published an article on MrBeast alleging the creator had been berating and belittling his staff.

The Times reported that eleven former employees had accused Donaldson of creating a “difficult work environment” and saying his on-screen happy-go-lucky persona “changed when the camera weren’t around.”

The author of the article, Taylor Lorenz, told Insider:

“Working for a 22-year-old YouTube star isn’t going to be the most professional work environment, but if you are posturing yourself as a business leader or the next Elon Musk, you should think about the type of work culture you’re creating and what you are rewarding.”

Lorenz had included statements made by former MrBeast editor Matt Tuner, who worked for the channel from 2018 to 2019.

Turner had said he was rarely credited for his work and that Donaldson often used a slur against mentally disabled people whenever annoyed at staff members.

He had once posted a video explaining his allegations against Donaldson, even posting a now-deleted Twitter thread in which he claimed he was “yelled at, bullied, called mentally r— and replaceable by MrBeast every single day.”

In one of his latest videos, many social media users and media outlets have criticized MrBeast’s spoof of the Netflix hit Squid Game, accusing the creator of missing the point of the series.

In his version, those who succumb to capitalist tendencies are not punished, and the intention of the show to bring such issues to light is long on the fun MrBeast’s video brings to the otherwise gritty social commentary.