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MrBeast's Biography (Jimmy Donaldson): from the challenge of counting to 100,000 to 500 million subscribers

Q: What is MrBeast's real name?

His real name is **James Stephen Donaldson**, known as Jimmy Donaldson. He was born on May 7, 1998 in Wichita, Kansas, and he grew up in Greenville, North Carolina.

Q: How old is MrBeast?

MrBeast is **28 years old** in October 2026. He was born on May 7, 1998.

Q: How many subscribers does MrBeast have?

He passed **500 million subscribers** on his main YouTube channel on June 12, 2026, according to YouTube's official blog, which presented him as the first individual creator to achieve it. We have not been able to check a later figure, so the exact number today may be higher. It is the most subscribed channel on the platform.

MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson): age, how he reached 500 million subscribers, Beast Games, Feastables and Beast Philanthropy. Biography updated to 2026.

Written by Famosix · Published on October 24, 2026 · Updated on October 24, 2026

MrBeast: personal details

Fact	Detail
Full name	James Stephen Donaldson
Stage name	MrBeast
Age	28 years old
Date of birth	May 7, 1998
Country of origin	Estados Unidos
Place of birth	Wichita, Kansas, Estados Unidos
Nationality	American
Occupation	YouTuber, entrepreneur, philanthropist, producer

Few creators have changed the rules of YouTube as much as MrBeast. What started as a boy from North Carolina uploading video game videos at 13 ended up in a channel with 500 million subscribers, a chocolate brand, a reality show on Prime Video and a charitable organisation. In this Famosix biography, updated to October 2026, we review who Jimmy Donaldson is, how he built his formula and which projects he works on today.

Who is MrBeast?

MrBeast is the stage name of James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, an American YouTuber, entrepreneur and philanthropist born on May 7, 1998 in Wichita, Kansas. He became famous for large-scale videos in which he gives away money, sets million-dollar challenges or replicates popular games in giant versions. His main channel has been the most subscribed on YouTube since June 2024.

MrBeast's personal details

Field: Detail

Full name: James Stephen Donaldson

Stage name: MrBeast

Date of birth: May 7, 1998

Age (October 2026): 28 years old

Place of birth: Wichita, Kansas, United States

Raised in: Greenville, North Carolina

Nationality: American

Occupation: YouTuber, entrepreneur, philanthropist, producer

Company: Beast Industries

Brands and projects: Feastables, Lunchly, Beast Games, Beast Philanthropy, Viewstats

Main YouTube channel: MrBeast

Childhood and first steps on YouTube

Donaldson was born in Kansas, but he grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, where he studied at Greenville Christian Academy before devoting himself fully to the internet.

He started publishing in February 2012, at 13, under the username "MrBeast6000". For years he uploaded video game videos, commentary and lists, with slow growth. His first big sign came in January 2017, when he published "I Counted to 100,000!", a video in which he counts out loud up to that figure and which took him some 40 hours, according to the press of the time. That video marked the turn towards the format that would make him famous: a simple idea taken to an absurd scale.

The MrBeast formula: challenges, money and scale

From 2017 his channel turned towards increasingly bigger challenges and giveaways. His method can be summed up in three ideas:

A concept you understand in seconds, already visible in the title and the thumbnail.
A scale that is hard to ignore: hundreds of people, high prizes or giant sets.
Increasingly ambitious production, with videos of ever bigger budgets and crews.

That approach took him to subscriber milestones that the press and YouTube have documented:

Milestone: Date

100 million: July 28, 2022

200 million: October 15, 2023

Most subscribed channel on YouTube (passed T-Series): June 2, 2024

300 million: July 10, 2024

400 million: June 2, 2025

500 million: June 12, 2026

Philanthropy: Team Trees, Team Seas and Beast Philanthropy

Alongside entertainment, MrBeast has driven collective fundraising campaigns, several of them with the YouTuber Mark Rober:

Team Trees (October 2019): according to the official site, it passed 24 million dollars for the Arbor Day Foundation, with the goal of planting one tree per dollar; it is still open to donations.
Team Seas (October 2021): it reached its goal of 30 million dollars on January 1, 2022 to clean oceans, rivers and coasts with Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup; its website celebrates 34 million pounds of rubbish removed.
Team Water (August 2025): it gathered more than 40 million dollars between August 1 and 31, according to TheWrap, for WaterAid and other organisations, with the aim of providing access to clean water.
Beast Philanthropy (November 2020): a YouTube channel that donates the income it generates to charitable causes, with actions such as food distribution or well building.

The figures come from the official sites and from TheWrap, and they may have changed.

Businesses: Feastables, Lunchly and Beast Industries

Donaldson's business activity is grouped in Beast Industries, the company that brings together his channels and brands. Its best known pieces are:

MrBeast Burger (December 2020): a food brand that was born as a virtual restaurant; its first physical location opened on September 4, 2022 at American Dream (New Jersey), according to Fortune.
Feastables (January 2022): chocolate bars and snacks that have become one of the most important legs of the business.
Lunchly (September 16, 2024): an alternative to Lunchables-style lunch kits, created together with KSI and Logan Paul.
Viewstats: an analytics tool for creators linked to his company, cited by Tubefilter among his businesses.
Step: a financial app that Beast Industries acquired and announced on February 10, 2026, according to Cointelegraph.

In January 2026, Beast Industries received an investment of 200 million dollars from Bitmine, according to Cointelegraph.

Beast Games: his leap to television

In December 2024 Beast Games arrived on Prime Video, a competition reality show with 1,000 contestants. Amazon renewed the programme for two more seasons, an announcement made at its presentation on May 12, 2025.

The second season, titled "Strong vs. Smart", premiered on January 7, 2026 and ended on February 25, 2026. It brought together 200 participants, split between athletes and brilliant minds, and had Tyler Lucas as the winner, according to TheWrap and Dexerto. The programme has also received criticism and lawsuits from some participants over the production conditions; as these are ongoing processes, here we only record that they exist.

Recognitions and income ranking

Among his recognitions are the Streamy Awards as Creator of the Year (2020 to 2023, according to TheWrap and Tubefilter), Kids' Choice awards as favourite creator and his appearances on the Time 100 (2023) and Time 100 Creators (2025) lists.

On the Forbes Top Creators 2026, published on June 23, he took first place with some 300 million dollars in estimated income, according to Tubefilter's summary. It was the first time that the 50 creators on the list together passed 1 billion dollars.

MrBeast trivia

His original account was called "MrBeast6000" and he created it at 13.
He passed T-Series as the most subscribed channel on June 2, 2024, with some 267 million against 266 million, according to Business Today.
His Team Trees, Team Seas and Team Water campaigns add up to more than 90 million dollars raised, according to the figures cited above.
Other Spanish-speaking creators have also grown with challenges and big-production formats, such as Luisito Comunica, Nando, Cristorata or Ibai Llanos.

MrBeast in 2026

In 2026 he combines four fronts: his YouTube channel, which reached 500 million subscribers on June 12; television with Beast Games; the consumer brands, with Feastables and Lunchly as the protagonists; and a bet on financial services with the purchase of Step, reported in February 2026. Meanwhile, he keeps his charitable campaigns with Beast Philanthropy and Team Water.

Conclusion

MrBeast's story shows how a simple idea, repeated with discipline and taken to a bigger scale every time, can turn a video game channel into a business group. We will keep updating this biography on Famosix with his next projects.

Sources consulted

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Frequently asked questions

What is MrBeast's real name?

His real name is James Stephen Donaldson, known as Jimmy Donaldson. He was born on May 7, 1998 in Wichita, Kansas, and he grew up in Greenville, North Carolina.

How old is MrBeast?

MrBeast is 28 years old in October 2026. He was born on May 7, 1998.

How many subscribers does MrBeast have?

He passed 500 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel on June 12, 2026, according to YouTube's official blog, which presented him as the first individual creator to achieve it. We have not been able to check a later figure, so the exact number today may be higher. It is the most subscribed channel on the platform.

What is Beast Games?

It is MrBeast's competition reality show on Prime Video. The first season premiered on December 19, 2024 with 1,000 contestants and the second, "Strong vs. Smart", aired from January 7 to February 25, 2026 with 200 participants and a prize of 5 million dollars, according to TheWrap.

What is Feastables?

Feastables is the brand of chocolate bars and snacks that MrBeast launched in January 2022. It is part of Beast Industries, the company that groups his businesses.

How much did MrBeast earn according to Forbes?

Forbes placed him in first place on its Top Creators 2026 list, published on June 23, 2026, with some 300 million dollars in estimated income, according to Tubefilter, which reports the Forbes list.

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