Adapted by:
Rubén Andrés
WriterWriter at Xataka. I've been working remotely for more than a decade and I'm a strong advocate of technology as a way to improve our lives. Full-time addict of black, sugar-free coffee.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
Thanks to his YouTube videos and challenges, MrBeast has become a global Internet superstar. However, he’s successfully expanded beyond content creation, turning his fame into a diversified business empire valued at billions of dollars.
Interestingly, the driving force behind this empire is no longer MrBeast’s impressive following of more than 377 million or his unique challenges. Instead, selling chocolate has proven to be much more profitable.
A teenage gamer turned a millionaire. Jimmy Donaldson, the man behind MrBeast, began his YouTube journey in 2012 at the age of 11. Like most kids, his early videos featured him playing popular video games such as Call of Duty and Minecraft.
For years, he studied which types of content resonated best on the platform, mastering the algorithm’s intricacies and learning how to capture the audience’s attention.
Outgrowing YouTube. MrBeast clearly struck the right chord, transforming what started as a hobby into a lucrative business. This ultimately led him to drop out of college and fully commit to his YouTube career.
In recent years, his videos have reached blockbuster status. He’s garnered hundreds of millions of views worldwide for popular challenges such as recreating Squid Game in real life and engaging in extreme survival experiences. He’s even hosted his own show on Amazon Prime Video.
Business expansion. While his YouTube channel remains a cornerstone of the Beast Industries holding company, it’s not Donaldson’s most profitable venture. MrBeast’s conglomerate includes snack brand Lunchly and Viewstats, a software company for content creators. However, the true standout is Feastables, his chocolate bar brand.
Feastables. MrBeast’s venture into the world of chocolate began in 2021 with the launch of Feastables. The brand quickly gained popularity. He often featured the chocolates in his videos, even making them central to some of his content.
To promote his chocolates, MrBeast went into full Willy Wonka mode. In one of his videos, he challenged his followers to find a golden ticket hidden in some of the chocolate bars and invited the winners to compete for a $500,000 cash jackpot. This promotional strategy, combined with the quality of the chocolate, propelled Feastables to remarkable sales success.
When the chocolate empire surpasses the media empire. According to Bloomberg, Feastables made $250 million in sales in 2024, with profits exceeding $20 million. In contrast, MrBeast’s media business, including his YouTube channel and Prime Video reality show, also saw similar sales volumes but reported losses nearing $80 million. “I lost tens of millions of dollars on [Beast Games],” Donaldson recently said on The Diary of a CEO podcast.
The snack business outperformed YouTube. The Bloomberg figures reveal that MrBeast’s chocolate business is currently more profitable than his video content. In fact, forecasts from Beast Industries suggest that Feastables will triple in size over the next two years.
According to this data, UAE-based investor Alpha Wave led an investment round for Beast Industries in 2024. Alpha Wave also valued Donaldson’s holding company at around $5 billion, a significant increase from its valuation of $1.5 billion in 2023. By 2026, MrBeast’s company estimates that revenue from video creation will account for only one-fifth of its total revenue.
Images | Feastables
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