MrBeast: YouTube Career and Fast Facts

Born: May 7, 1998
Platform: YouTube
Known for: Large-scale videos and philanthropy-style formats

A sourced evergreen guide to MrBeast, with facts, context and reference links.

By the Pop Culture Files editorial team•Updated June 5, 2026•4 min read•✓ Fact-checked

MrBeast reference image — Steven Khan via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), better known as MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, media personality, businessman, and philanthropist. The founder of Beast Industries, a conglomerate that holds various media channels, MrBeast Burger, Feastables, Lunchly, and more, he produces high-paced YouTube videos built around elaborate challenges and grandiose philanthropic efforts, that are noted for their high production values. With more than 496 million subscribers, his main channel is the most subscribed on YouTube. He is also the third most followed account on TikTok. Donaldson was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He began posting videos to YouTube in early 2012 under MrBeast6000. His early uploads ranged from Let's Play videos to estimations of other YouTubers' wealth. In January 2017, after his video "I Counted to 100,000!" drew tens of thousands of views within days, his productions quickly became more extravagant. As the audience expanded, Donaldson brought longtime friends into the brand and launched companion channels including Beast Reacts (inactive as of 2026, formerly BeastHacks), MrBeast Gaming, MrBeast 2 (formerly MrBeast Shorts...