Meet Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson — YouTuber turned $5 billion business mogul whose chocolates outsell videos

YouTube’s biggest and arguably most popular star, MrBeast, earns more from his chocolate business than from his various video ventures, according to media reports by The Verge and Bloomberg. He is, in fact, the second most followed person on social media, after footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Notably, MrBeast has over 373 million subscribers on Google’s video platform and began his influencer journey as an 11-year-old. As of date, he has posted around 852 videos on YouTube, evolving from his early content, which featured him playing video games, to now hosting giveaways, stunts, and online games for prizes. His annual combined video views average in the billions.

Making More Money From Chocolate, Not Videos

Shockingly, the Bloomberg report on March 11 showed that Donaldson earned more from his $5 billion Beast Industries-held chocolate business, Feastables than all his video content combined.

He holds a majority stake in Feastables, which logged $250 million in sales in 2024, for a profit exceeding $20 million. While his media business (YouTube channel and an Amazon Prime Video show) generated similar sales, the loss was nearly $80 million, the report said.

The video production is expensive, requiring 200 staff, unique challenges, travel to exotic or far-away international locations, brand new sets, and more. Sources told Bloomberg that costs for YouTube channel productions average $3-4 million.

For the Amazon Prime Video show, MrBeast got $100 million for one season of Beast Games (among the most expensive deals in reality TV) but ended up recording losses in “tens of millions”, according to the YouTuber in a podcast. He said he hopes to “break even on seasons two and three”.

Success Strategy? MrBeast Leveraging YouTube Fame to Market Business

The report noted that MrBeast successfully leveraged his fame, especially with the youth online, to market and promote his non-media business endeavours. Besides Feastables, Beast Industries has a stake in Lunchly (microwaveable quick snacks) and owns software company Viewstats (sells digital tools to fellow content creators).

Sources also told the publication that his company raised over $450 million over the past four years and plans to raise $100 million more to expand into the video games, wellness, and beverages spaces. The details were in the company’s performance data and business forecast documents, it added. Most of the pitches to investors banked on MrBeast’s celebrity status and popularity to beat out other start-ups competing for money. It noted that among the many star ventures, Beast Industries is among the other successes — namely Selena Gomez’ Rare Beauty and Kim Kardashian’s Skims.

What’s in Store for Beast Industries and MrBeast?

Jeffrey Housenbold was hired in 2024 to become President and CEO of Beast Industries. He, in turn, hired a CFO, CPO, and Legal Rep and built teams for branding and strategy, as per the report. The aim is to cost $100 million in costs in 2025, for an estimated profit of $300 million in 2026, and slashing the cost of video production is first on the list, it added. He said, “We have an unprecedented platform in terms of reach and fandom. We have the opportunity to launch multiple businesses on the backs of that centre of reach and distribution.”

Beast Industries forecasts that Feastables will triple in size over the next couple of years. Meanwhile, the company is projecting that by 2026, media revenue will only account for one-fifth of its total sales. Content and media are “a marketing investment in everything else we do,” Housenbold added.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)