Best known as MrBeast, Jimmy Donaldson is one of the most popular YouTube entertainers and regularly gets tens of millions of views on his videos.
Here’s a look at how MrBeast makes money and how much income he generates.
What Happened: MrBeast joined YouTube as a 13-year-old and recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary on the video platform owned by Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL).
At the time of writing, MrBeast has 91.4 million subscribers on YouTube, ranking him fifth in terms of subscribers and is the second most popular U.S.-based account.
Today is the 10 year anniversary of the channel, give me likes pic.twitter.com/6kxZDBw8oF
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) February 19, 2022
The top viewed videos on YouTube from MrBeast have views of 226 million, 170 million, 166 million, 159 million and 156 million views.
A video featuring 456 contestants taking part in real-life “Squid Game” themed challenges for a $456,000 prize has over 226 million views. The video ranks as one of the top non music videos of all-time on YouTube. It had more views in the first five days of release than the series of the same name on Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX).
MrBeast spent $3.5 million on the “Squid Game” video and also paid out the $456,000 prize. The video was sponsored by mobile game company Supercell, who may have helped pay the prize and some of the video costs.
Along with the main MrBeast channel, Donaldson also owns Beast Philanthropy (7.8 million subscribers), MrBeast Gaming (26.2 million), Beast Reacts (6.2 million), MrBeast Shorts (12.6 million) and MrBeast 2 (5.4 million).
Related Link: MrBeast's Squid Game Video Has More Views In A Week Than Netflix's Show Had In First Month
How MrBeast Makes Money: The primary method for YouTube content creators to make money is through advertisements. This includes pre-roll ads that play before a video loads and ads that run in the middle of videos, similar to a commercial during a live television broadcast.
YouTube pays out 68% of advertising revenue to its creators. Videos get an average of 18 cents per ad view, translating to $18 per 1,000 ad views or around $4 to $5 per 1,000 video views.
As an example, the “Squid Game” video would have made just over $1 million with 226 million view and an average of $4.50 per 1,000 video views.
When users skip the full length of ads with the “skip ad” button, it can impact the amount of revenue a content creator is paid.
The amount of ad views is the key to getting money for YouTube content creators. A video can receive more advertising money with fewer views than a video that commands more views but has less full advertisement views.
Also See: 10 Weirdest MrBeast Videos
The number of likes and shares on a YouTube video don't impact the amount of money the video earns, but can help boost overall viewership and the potential for more ad views.
Sponsorships on videos like the one mentioned above from Supercell and a sponsorship with Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) also help MrBeast earn money.
So, how much does MrBeast make from YouTube? One report says MrBeast makes around $4 million monthly, while also spending $45 million a year on production costs for the videos.
In 2021, Donaldson earned $54 million and had over 10 billion views, making him the top paid YouTuber according to Forbes. Donaldson earned a reported $24 million and had over three million views in 2020.
Outside of YouTube, MrBeast owns a delivery only burger chain called MrBeast Burger that was launched in December 2020. The YouTuber also has several endorsement deals.
Photo: Courtesy MrBeast's YouTube channel
