- The YouTuber MrBeast on Thursday became the second creator to hit 100 million subscribers.
- He celebrated by streaming his live reaction on YouTube and thanking his supporters.
- He added he had more video ideas to post and thought this was "just the beginning" of his career.
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The YouTube star MrBeast has become the second individual creator ever to reach 100 million subscribers. He hit the milestone on July 28.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, documented his live reaction in a YouTube stream, where he thanked fans for their support.
"I appreciate every single one of you that watches the videos. This is literally all I've ever done with my life," he said, adding: "All I do is wake up every day and obsess over how to make the best videos possible. It's all I care about. It's the only thing that's ever really made me happy."
Donaldson's channel is the fifth most subscribed to in the world, and he is one of the most viewed and highest-paid creators on the platform. The only other individual YouTube creator to have hit 100 million subscribers is the gaming influencer PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg and who has 111 million followers.
Donaldson said he had many more ideas for content that he wanted to post on his channel and that he planned to build his career on YouTube for another 20 to 30 years.
"I feel like this is just the beginning, and I don't know if that sounds arrogant to say, but I really do feel like this is just the beginning and I have so much more to give creatively," he said in the stream.
Donaldson also tweeted some celebratory messages on July 28, saying in one tweet: "I'm grateful I get to do this all day everyday." In another, he said: "No matter how big I get I'll never own a mansion, yacht, Lamborghini etc. All I want is to make the best videos possible and help as many people as I can while doing it."
A post shared by MrBeast (@mrbeast)
The YouTuber has developed a reputation among fans for having altruistic videos, in which he often gives large sums of money away to viewers. He rose to fame in 2018 by donating thousands of dollars to small Twitch streamers and YouTubers. More recently, he has filmed elaborate competitions where fans take part in videos with the chance to win large prizes. Last year, he recreated the Netflix show "Squid Game" for a competition involving 456 supporters and gave away $500,000 to a fan in a competition inspired by "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."
Donaldson also founded a humanitarian-aid company called Beast Philanthropy in 2020 to support people living in poverty. He also owns a burger chain and a line of chocolate products.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.
MrBeast, the hugely popular YouTube maestro of big-money giveaways and offbeat stunts, has hit a new milestone.
On Thursday, July 28, MrBeast’s main YouTube channel surpassed 100 million subscribers. In a statement, MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson), said, “100 million means so much. I’ve been making videos since I was 11 years old. This number in a way represents everything I’ve ever done in my life and I’m so grateful to everyone who’s ever watched a video. I hope to do YouTube until the day I die.”
In a tweet, he added, “Also I just want to say that no matter how big I get I’ll never own a mansion, yacht, Lamborghini etc. All I want is to make the best videos possible and help as many people as I can while doing it ❤️”
To celebrate the feat, MrBeast plans to release new merchandise via an exclusive shoppable livestream on YouTube. And, according to YouTube, he’ll upload one of his most expensive videos ever on Aug. 4.
The 24-year-old is estimated to be 2021’s highest-earning YouTuber, raking in $54 million last year. Donaldson remains No. 5 on the list of most-subscribed YouTube channels, after T-Series (221 million), Moonbug’s Cocomelon (139 million), SET India (138 million) and PewDiePie (111 million).
MrBeast began uploading videos to YouTube in 2012, gaining mainstream popularity in 2018, when he started regularly posting videos in which he gave away large sums of money — often to total strangers. In 2019 he had the most-liked creator video (titled, naturally, “Make This Video The Most Liked Video On Youtube”). In 2020 he finished the year as the No. 1 most-subscribed creator in the U.S.
Central to Donaldson’s appeal: He has taken the traditional YouTube challenge format and pushed it to new and ridiculous heights, while also regularly launches big charity fundraisers (like the recent the #TeamSeas cleanup fundraiser with YouTuber Mark Rober).
Over a million people celebrated 100,000,000 subscribers with me 🥹
YouTube is the one thing that’s always made me happy and I’m grateful I get to do this all day everyday :) pic.twitter.com/eJk5icuoQd
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) July 28, 2022
MrBeast’s YouTube empire spans 18 channels including, the main MrBeast, MrBeast Shorts, MrBeast Gaming, Beast Reacts and Beast Philanthropy. All told, he has more than 215 million subscribers and has notched more than 30 billion views to date (with more than 8 billion of these coming in 2022 alone).
Some of MrBeast’s most memorable videos:
- $456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!: MrBeast recreated every set from the Netflix hit show “Squid Game” and gave 456 people a chance to win $456,000. The video has over 272 million views on his main channel and millions more on his various multi-language channels.
- I Spent 50 Hours Buried Alive: MrBeast spent 50 hours buried completely underground in a coffin with cameras. The video received over 185 million views.
- I Gave People $1,000,000 But ONLY 1 Minute To Spend It!: MrBeast gave complete strangers 60 seconds to spend $1 million that he would pay for. The video has over 100 million views.