Mr Beast Explaining His Journey

Jimmy Donaldson, the person the online world knows as MrBeast, is the biggest YouTuber on the planet - and with that popularity comes large sums of money.

The 25-year-old has branched out from video-making and now has his own fast-food chain, MrBeast Burger. It hit headlines this week when he sued the company behind the chain, claiming fans thought the food was "revolting".

But it's still YouTube that he is best known for. In November 2022, Forbes estimated he earned $54m (£42.5m) in a year from the platform, combining advertising revenue from videos and sponsorship deals. Since then, he has gained 60 million more subscribers on his main channel, taking his total 172 million.

And he has several other channels with tens of millions of subscribers, including one for philanthropy and one for video games.

It's unclear exactly how much money he actually pockets though. Donaldson has become known for putting the money he makes back into his ultra-expensive videos, some of which take millions to produce. He told a podcast in June that he reinvests "every penny I make".

It is this approach to content that might begin to explain why the American YouTuber attracts such giant audiences - because it allows him to raise the stakes.

His biggest video to date, with 472 million views, recreated the Netflix hit Squid Game in real life, including a $456,000 prize fund.