Multi-millionaire Youtuber Mr. Beast has explained that despite raking in hundreds of millions a year, he spends most of his money on his channel.
Financial Lessons from Mr. Beast
While most of us are unlikely to make millions from YouTube, perhaps there is still something to learn from Mr. Beast, the streaming Wunderkind who makes hundreds of millions of dollars from his self-titled YouTube channel.
Hundreds of Millions
The 25-year-old content creator, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is reported to make $600 to $700 million a year.
But he insists that he’s not personally rich despite his video revenue and staggering follower count.
Ad Revenue and Brand Deals
In an interview with Time Magazine, he confirmed that “Each video does a couple million in ad revenue, a couple million in brand deals.” But he supposedly pockets very little of that cash.
No Access to Bank Accounts
“I don’t have access to any of my bank accounts,” the Youtuber continued. “I have a CFO and everything, but [my mom is] the one who has access to the master bank account.”
Putting it All Back
Since the beginning of his career, Donaldson has chosen to reinvest the vast majority of his earnings back into the channel and overall business.
“I’ve Reinvested Everything”
“I’ve reinvested everything to the point of—you could claim—stupidity, just believing that we would succeed,” he explained. “And it’s worked out.”
One of the Greats
The Mr. Beast YouTube channel is one of the most popular and subscribed-to channels on the platform, with a whopping 239 million subscribers.
He has the most subscribers of any one individual YouTuber, and second most overall, coming in behind the Indian music network T-Series.
Millions of Views
Along with the staggering subscriber count, he also regularly hits 100 million views on his videos and told Time that he is usually paid approximately 2.5 million to $3 million for a single brand shout-out.
Impressive Scope and Concepts
The amount he reinvests won’t be a surprise to people familiar with his YouTube channel.
Part of Mr. Beast‘s appeal is the enormous scope of his public stunts and video concepts, as well as the amount of money he puts on the line to entertain people.
Expensive Stunts
For example, a series of videos where contestants are forced to face their deepest fears in order to win $800,000, or a stunt where participants are paid $10,000 a day for every day they can survive in a grocery store (that Mr. Beast purchased for the stunt).
Emotional Investment
And Mr. Beast also invests millions in making his viewers feel emotionally invested in his channel, through a series of highly-publicized philanthropic and humanitarian efforts.
Charitable Acts
His YouTube channel is responsible for planting millions of trees, giving away millions of dollars worth of food to those in need, and raising millions for charitable ventures.
“Whatever We Make, We Reinvest”
But he has made it clear that his personal frugality probably won’t be the case forever. “I’m not naïve; maybe one day,” he said. “But right now, whatever we make, we reinvest.”
Still Living Large
What’s more, he isn’t living like a pauper. The 25-year-old owns a 3,000-square-foot home and hires a personal chef and trainer.
Content Revolution
In recent years, YouTubers like Mr. Beast and Swedish streamer PewdiePie have revolutionized how people see content creators, particularly from a financial perspective.
Financial Potential
Youtubers can earn between $1.61 and 29.30 per 1,000 views, on top of money earned from sponsorships as well as off-site subscriptions to sites like Patreon and Ko-Fi.
A Worthy Career?
While it is becoming increasingly difficult to gain traction and get views on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, more and more people are seeing social media and content creation as viable income sources, whether as full-time or part-time creators.
A Dream for Millions
Back in 2018, Metro Magazine ran an infamous article titled “Children now more likely to want to become YouTubers than actors,” and with people like Mr. Beast earning hundreds of millions per year, it’s not hard to see why.
It’s Not Just Luck
Donaldson isn’t glamorizing his position, though, and has made it clear that raking in millions through YouTube isn’t a matter of luck – it takes significant work and continual reinvestment.
The “Never-Ending Treadmill”
“It’s a never-ending treadmill for the content obviously,” he said. “It’s brutal. You’re always on, and it’s a lot of pressure. And this whole system is based around 200 million people just magically showing up and watching my next video.”
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The post Mr. Beast: The Millionaire YouTuber Who Lives Like a Pauper first appeared on From Frugal to Free.
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The content of this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute or replace professional financial advice.
