YouTuber MrBeast makes $700 million a year but says he's not rich: 'I've reinvested everything to the point of stupidity'
There is no doubt that MrBeast makes a lot of money.
Jimmy 'MrBeast' Donaldson.
The YouTuber, actual name Jimmy Donaldson, earns hundreds of millions of dollars with his YouTube channel and Feastables food line. But, despite earning between $600 million and $700 million every year, Donaldson says he is not wealthy.
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His enormous channel has 239 million subscribers, and his videos consistently receive more than 100 million views.
"Each video does a couple million in ad revenue, a couple million in brand deals," he told Time Magazine, adding that businesses spend between $2.5 million and $3 million for a mention in a video.
However, that money is not deposited into his bank account. And even if it did, the 26-year-old asserts he does not have access to it.
"I don't have access to any of my bank accounts," he said. "I have a CFO and everything, but [my mom is] the one who has access to the master bank account."
Instead, the money goes back into expanding his brand and audience.
"I've reinvested everything to the point of—you could claim—stupidity, just believing that we would succeed," he disclosed. "And it's worked out."
Part of the investment entails going all out on his enormous, popular pranks, like as purchasing a grocery store and giving a competitor $10,000 for each day he can live there. According to Time, a shot that gathers 12,000 hours of footage might result in a 15-minute movie.
Of course, Donaldson isn't exactly getting by. According to Time, the designer has a personal chef and trainer, and he lives in a 3,000-square-foot mansion that he paid $320,000 for in 2018, according to the New York Post.
With plans to expand his empire, Donaldson admits that he may eventually reap financial rewards.
"I'm not naïve; maybe one day," he said of becoming wealthy. "But right now, whatever we make, we reinvest."
