- MrBeast lost “tens of millions” of dollars producing Beast Games—his Amazon Prime TV show. The game’s winner, who took home $10 million, says MrBeast’s dedication is inspiring.
YouTube star MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, spent over $100 million producing his competitive reality-TV show Beast Games. And even though the show was a viewership hit—and won 44 Guinness world records—it was a major financial setback, with losses totaling upward of “tens of millions” of dollars.
However, Donaldson has no regrets, he admits to The Diary of a CEO.While that mindset could be considered financially reckless, others view it as inspiring, including the show’s $10 million grand prize winner, Jeff Allen.
“He continues to invest into his product,” Allen tells Fortune.
“And even if you hear him talk about Beast Games—on paper, he was in the red on Beast Games because he continued to invest into it. But I think long term, he understands that he’s going to continue to grow his audience, and he’s probably broadened his audience [from] having a silver-haired guy like me on,” he adds.
Beast Games was “not a good financial decision,” but MrBeast wanted to send a message
Between giving away $22 million to contestants and building two of the show’s many sets, MrBeast spent at least $50 million alone, he tells The Diary of a CEO’s Steven Bartlett. The show’s exact total, he admits, is a number he’s been advised not to disclose—but is “of course” over $100 million.
“It was not a good financial decision to make Beast Games,” Donaldson adds. “I lost money. I would have more money if I didn’t film it.”
But despite having a sky-high budget, Donaldson says, it was still a challenge to pull off.
“Money isn’t everything—building and managing it is infinitely harder,” he says.
MrBeast has over 378 million subscribers on YouTube—the most of any channel—and routinely gets over 200 million views on his videos. Still, he says, big streaming companies were skeptical about his ability to create a worthwhile show for television.
“I’m not a TikToker that dances—I have a production company; I routinely make spectacles, and even me—these streaming platforms weren’t taking serious,” he says.
For this reason, he tells the podcast that making Beast Games was not about the money, it was about creating eyebrow-raising entertainment that would send a message to streaming platforms that working with YouTubers is a smart move.
And it very well might have worked.
Beast Games accumulated over 700 million viewing minutes across its first three episodes in December, according to Nielsen. In total, the 10-episode series made Amazon at least $100 million in profit, according to the Wall Street Journal—and they are negotiating a deal for the second and third series of the show.
Now other YouTubers are having their doors open left and right, Donaldson says. The WSJ reports that Netflix, NBC’s Peacock, and Disney are all looking to enhance their relationships with creators.
Read more from Fortune
YouTube star Rachel Accurso—known commonly as Ms. Rachel—signed a deal with Netflix earlier this year to develop a four-episode series designed for toddlers, and the show has maintained a top spot on its most-watched shows in the U.S.
MrBeast’s relentless work ethic fuels his success
Donaldson’s multimillion-dollar empire wasn’t built overnight; in fact, he spends nearly every waking hour focused on his next film project. Allen, who spent weeks with Donaldson while filming season one of Beast Games, says the star has a camera around him eight hours a day for at least 28 days a month.
“There’s a reason why he’s number one in the world at what he does,” Allen tells Fortune. “But the crazy thing is, he loves it. There wasn’t a part where he looked tired of it or ready to go home. He was always ready to answer the bell and deliver.”
Allen plans to spend most of his prize money finding a cure for his son Lucas’s rare brain disease and says that no matter the project, having clear values is the most important thing to keep in mind.
“I’m an older guy, and I think one of the blessings of Lucas is he gave me the ultimate gift of perspective and what was important,” Allen tells Fortune. “Find the beauty and the bumps, and when you’re blessed with something like a windfall, or if you’re going through challenges, you don’t have to do it alone.”
