James Stephen Donaldson, widely recognized as MrBeast, is a popular YouTuber celebrated for his creative and entertaining content. He gained initial fame through his series “Worst Intros on YouTube” and gaming videos but later shifted focus to jaw-dropping challenges and videos featuring generous cash prizes. Beyond YouTube, he’s an entrepreneur, having launched the delivery-only fast food brand MrBeast Burger and the chocolate bar company Feastables. He’s also invested in several tech ventures, expanding his reach as a businessman.
James started his YouTube journey on February 19, 2012, uploading his first video just a day later.
His main channel has an impressive 342 million subscribers, making it the most-subscribed on YouTube. He also runs additional channels like MrBeast Gaming, Beast Philanthropy, Beast Reacts, and MrBeast 2. James has won the Creator of the Year award at the Streamy Awards every year from 2020 to 2023. In November 2022, he surpassed both PewDiePie and T-Series to claim the top spot on YouTube. Recently, in December 2024, he introduced Beast Games on Amazon, further diversifying his ventures.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, James grew up alongside his older brother CJ Donaldson, who also has a YouTube channel called MrBro. He once featured his mom in a video where he surprised her with a $10,000 home makeover. He previously dated Maddy Spidell and is now engaged to Thea Booysen, with the couple announcing their engagement on Christmas Day 2024.
In 2016, he created several comedic videos inspired by Donald Trump during the election season.
