Jim Donaldson
Born 1998 · Age 27
American YouTuber, media personality, entrepreneur and philanthropist known online as MrBeast; creator of high-budget stunt and giveaway videos, founder of MrBeast Burger, Feastables, and co-founder of Team Trees and Team Seas.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Wichita, Kansas
James Stephen Donaldson (Jimmy) was born in Wichita, Kansas.
Parents divorced
Donaldson's parents divorced; he was primarily raised by his mother afterward.
Created YouTube channel 'MrBeast6000' / first upload
Uploaded his first YouTube video and created the channel that became MrBeast (initially MrBeast6000).
Diagnosed with Crohn's disease
Donaldson was diagnosed with Crohn's disease around age 15; it affected his health and activities.
Popular 'Worst Intros' series
Gained traction with 'Worst Intros on YouTube' series, boosting his early audience.
Graduated Greenville Christian Academy
Graduated from a private evangelical Christian high school in Greenville, NC.
Enrolled at East Carolina University and dropped out
Briefly attended East Carolina University; dropped out after about two weeks to pursue YouTube full-time. His mother reportedly forced him to leave the family home after this decision.
Reached ~30,000 subscribers (mid-2016)
Channel grew to around 30,000 subscribers by mid-2016 as content evolved.
Hired childhood friends to run channel
Brought on childhood friends Ava Kris Tyson (Chris Tyson), Chandler Hallow, Garrett Ronalds, and Jake Franklin to co-run videos and brand.
Published 'Counting to 100,000' viral video
Breakthrough viral stunt: he published an almost day-long video counting to 100,000; propelled his growth.
Reached 1,000,000 subscribers
Main channel reached 1 million subscribers following viral content and stunts.
Had given away $1,000,000 via stunts
By 2018 he had given away about $1M across his videos, gaining a reputation for philanthropy.
Paid for PewDiePie publicity (billboards/ads)
Bought billboards and ran ads to support PewDiePie during PewDiePie vs T-Series rivalry, raising his own profile.
Published 'Saying PewDiePie 100,000 Times'
Uploaded a stunt video aimed at raising PewDiePie's profile; helped drive large subscriber boosts for both creators.
Team Trees long-term impact milestone (June 2025 update)
As of mid-2025 the Team Trees campaign had funded planting over ~24.89M trees (surpassing original goal).
Organized Apex Legends Youtuber Battle Royale ($200k prize)
Hosted/recorded a real-life battle royale event in Los Angeles with a $200,000 prize pool; event sponsored by EA.
Co-founded Team Trees fundraiser
Announced #TeamTrees with Mark Rober, a public fundraising campaign to raise $20M for the Arbor Day Foundation (plant one tree per $1 donated).
Team Trees surpassed $20M goal
By Dec 19, 2019 #TeamTrees exceeded its $20M fundraising goal with donations from individuals and corporations.
Rock–paper–scissors livestream set YouTube concurrent-record
Hosted a RPS stream with 32 influencers and a $250,000 grand prize; peaked at 662,000 concurrent viewers.
Launched 'Finger on the App' multiplayer game (MSCHF collab)
Released a mobile endurance game; initial winners received $20,000 (four winners), game later planned a sequel with larger prizes.
Created Beast Philanthropy channel
Launched Beast Philanthropy, a channel and food bank where ad revenue, brand deals and merch sales go to charity.
Hosted influencer trivia tournament ($300k prize)
Organized a trivia tournament with 24 competitors and a $300,000 grand prize; winners were Charli and Dixie D'Amelio.
Announced MrBeast Burger (virtual restaurant)
Announced a delivery-only virtual restaurant concept, working with Virtual Dining Concepts to franchise across restaurants.
Launched MrBeast Burger app (December 2020)
Mobile app launched for ordering MrBeast Burger through partner kitchens; rollout across U.S. delivery kitchens began.
Team Seas fundraising milestone (as of June 2025)
Team Seas raised over $34,080,191 (surpassing the original $30M goal) toward ocean cleanup efforts (as of June 2025).
Released 'YouTube Rewind 2020, Thank God It's Over'
Produced his own Rewind-style compilation, calling hundreds of creators to take part.
MrBeast Gaming channel growth (started Apr 2020) and revenue support
Used gaming and reaction channels to finance main channel; gaming channel launched April 2020 and grew rapidly through 2021.
Signed distribution deal with Jellysmack
Signed a content distribution deal (Facebook & Snapchat) with Jellysmack to expand distribution.
Launched Juice Funds partnership ($2M)
Partnered with Creative Juice to introduce Juice Funds, a $2M investment fund for content creators.
Invested / partnered with fintech Current
Became a long-term investor and partner in Current; also promoted other fintech/crypto opportunities (later backlash).
Co-founded Team Seas fundraiser
Launched #TeamSeas with Mark Rober to raise $30M to remove 30M pounds of trash from oceans, rivers, beaches.
Uploaded '$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!'
Recreated Squid Game with 456 contestants competing for $456,000; one of YouTube's most-viewed videos in 2021 (130M+ views in a week).
Forbes ranked him highest-earning YouTube creator (2021 earnings)
Forbes reported estimated earnings of ~$54M for 2021, ranking him top among YouTube creators for 2021.
Announced Feastables snack company
Announced Feastables, launching MrBeast Bar chocolate bars (initial flavors: original, almond, quinoa crunch) with sweepstakes and promotions.
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award: Favorite Male Creator (2022–2025)
Won Favorite Male Creator at the Kids' Choice Awards in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Feastables chocolate factory competition video & Gordon Ramsay appearance
Released a video with elimination challenges where the winner could choose a chocolate factory or $500,000; Ramsay judged the finale.
Surpassed 100 million subscribers
Main MrBeast channel reached 100M subscribers, becoming the fifth channel and second individual to do so.
Opened first physical MrBeast Burger location
Opened a physical MrBeast Burger in the American Dream Mall, East Rutherford, NJ (first brick-and-mortar after virtual rollout).
Achieved 1 billion video views in 30 days (Nov 2022)
Recorded one billion views across his main channel over a 30-day period, demonstrating massive reach.
Guinness World Record: Most subscribers for an individual male on YouTube
Achieved Guinness record at 112M subscribers for an individual male (surpassed long-time leader PewDiePie).
Partnered with East Carolina University to create a YouTube course
Announced partnership with East Carolina University to develop a course centered on content creation.
Feastables early revenue milestone (~$10M in first months)
Feastables reportedly made ~$10M in its first few months of operation.
Employed >250 staff (by 2023)
MrBeast operation scaled into a production company employing writers, editors, producers and more, reported >250 employees.
Won Streamy Award: Creator of the Year (2023)
Won the Streamy Awards Creator of the Year for a fourth consecutive year (2020–2023).
Guest judge on Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars
Appeared as a guest judge on Food Stars, increasing mainstream TV exposure.
Declined invitation to OceanGate Titan Titanic expedition
Said he had been invited on the ill-fated Titan submersible expedition but declined.
Expressed desire to shut down MrBeast Burger (quality concerns)
Publicly critiqued Virtual Dining Concepts and said he wished to end the partnership over quality issues (later legal action).
Sued Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC)
Filed federal suit against VDC alleging they damaged his brand, prioritized expansion over quality, and failed to pay him.
VDC filed counter-suit claiming >$100M in damages
Virtual Dining Concepts and subsidiary countersued Donaldson alleging breached agreements and seeking damages exceeding $100M.
Feastables Charlotte Hornets jersey partnership (Oct 2, 2023)
Feastables partnered with the Charlotte Hornets to put his insignia on jerseys for the 2023–24 NBA season (later ended).
Surpassed 200 million subscribers
Main channel passed 200M subscribers, a major platform milestone.
Published video building 100 wells in Africa
Uploaded a philanthropic video showing building 100 wells across African countries, claiming clean water for hundreds of thousands.
Launched Lunchly snack kits joint venture (announced Sep 2024)
Announced Lunchly, a snack kit brand with KSI and Logan Paul positioned as a Lunchables competitor; faced criticism and product issues.
Streamy Awards: Creator of the Year wins (2020–2023)
Won Streamy Creator of the Year award four years consecutively (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), consolidating industry recognition.
Publicly said Beast Games deal cost him tens of millions
After Beast Games aired, Donaldson said his $100M deal with Amazon was a poor financial decision and he lost tens of millions.
Announced Beast Games with Amazon MGM Studios
Announced plans for a large-scale reality competition series on Prime Video with a planned $5M grand prize and 1,000 contestants.
Became most-subscribed YouTube channel (surpassed T-Series)
Surpassed India-based T-Series to become the most-subscribed channel on YouTube at ~267 million subscribers.
First YouTuber to surpass 300 million subscribers
Main channel reached the 300M-subscriber milestone.
Uploaded 300M subscribers special '50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000'
Released a special featuring many celebrities; the video reached 71M views in first 24 hours.
Removed Ava Kris Tyson from MrBeast brand amid allegations
Removed long-time collaborator Ava Kris Tyson from the brand following allegations of sexual misconduct; initiated independent investigation.
Class-action lawsuit filed over Beast Games production
A class-action suit alleged mistreatment, sexual harassment and unpaid expenses/wages on Beast Games; filed Sept 2024 on behalf of contestants.
Third‑party investigation cleared allegations against Ava Kris Tyson
Law firm Quinn Emanuel concluded allegations against Tyson were baseless after interviews and document review.
Released Beast Games on Amazon Prime Video
Beast Games premiered on Prime Video, broke multiple Guinness World Records and became Prime Video's most-watched unscripted series in 25 days (50M viewers).
Proposed to Thea Booysen (private proposal)
Proposed to longtime partner Thea Booysen on Christmas Day; engagement announced publicly Jan 1, 2025.
Announced engagement to Thea Booysen
Publicly announced engagement; relationship began in 2022.
Net worth estimated at $1 billion
Multiple outlets estimated Donaldson's net worth around $1 billion in 2025, reflecting his holdings, company valuations, and platform revenues.
Hosted influencer basketball game with Fede Vigevani
Hosted teams of English- and Spanish-speaking creators; featured high-profile guests in video 'Beat Neymar, Win $500,000'.
Unauthorized Chichén Itzá video controversy
Published video showing after-hours activities at Chichén Itzá; Mexican authorities threatened legal action and called for permit investigation.
First YouTuber to surpass 400 million subscribers
Main channel reached over 400M subscribers, another platform record.
Announced AI thumbnail generator with Viewstats (later removed)
Launched an AI tool that generated thumbnails by emulating other creators' styles; removed after backlash by creators concerned about plagiarism.
Named among Time's 100 most influential digital creators (July 2025)
Time included him in a list recognizing the world's most influential digital creators.
Key Achievement Ages
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