March 2023
Case
HBS Case Collection

MrBeast: Building a YouTube Empire

By: Anita Elberse and Oliver Band

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:23

Abstract

Wednesday November 16, 2022 was a historic day in the ascent of Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, to the top echelon of YouTube creators. That day he became the YouTuber with the most subscribers ever—a total of 112 million. The meteoric rise of the 24-year-old Donaldson, long “obsessed with figuring out how to make videos go viral,” as he put it, had not only made him one of the entertainment world’s most popular creators, but also enabled him to launch a variety of other businesses. Donaldson’s businesses now generated more than $100 million a year. He had also emerged as a formidable force in philanthropy. How big could MrBeast’s presence on YouTube become? Did he have the right strategy for further growth on YouTube—while sustaining the ever-increasing levels of spending—and with his other businesses? And would MrBeast’s unique approach to philanthropy stand the test of time?