Journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, hosting a discussion at The New York Times Events, introduced Jimmy Donaldson—the entrepreneur known as MrBeast—alongside his CEO, Jeff Henbald, to unpack the business model behind the most followed person in the world. The discussion, titled "MrBeast on Cracking the Attention Economy," highlighted how Donaldson’s intense curiosity about virality evolved into Beast Industries, a company currently valued at $5.2 billion.
Donaldson, who prefers to be called Jimmy by those over the age of 10, revealed that his path began at age 11 with a "weird obsession" concerning why some content received 100 million views while other videos received only a hundred. For eight or nine years, he spent his teenage life "basically studying" what the algorithm dictates appears on the YouTube homepage, recognizing that "2% of all humanity's time is spent on YouTube". He was initially frustrated, sometimes working on a video for days only for two people to watch it. He realized the algorithm is simply a "reflection of what people want to watch". To achieve the scale that sees his videos average 200 million views, he aims for concepts "more intrinsic to humans"—content that can be enjoyed by audiences in India, America, and South America because it is universally understood, such as offering an ex-couple $300,000 to spend 30 days chained together.
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Jeff Henbald, CEO of Beast Industries, detailed the company's structure across three key divisions: media, consumer products/services, and a global creator platform. Today, the media division, anchored by the YouTube channel and its content, accounts for about half the company's revenue. The consumer division includes Feastables, the world's largest ethically sourced chocolate brand, and the MrBeast Labs toy, which is the number one action figure in America. The third division involves launching a two-sided marketplace that matches Fortune 1000 marketers with creators. Henbald emphasized that the company is a global media entity, with "70% of our viewers are outside of North America".
The discussion touched on the changing landscape of digital content. Donaldson noted that on YouTube, particularly for a U.S. audience, successful video lengths are actually increasing, now closer to 25–30 minutes, due to over 50% of watch time occurring on television. However, building a true fan base and a scalable business requires long-form content. Donaldson asserted that YouTube is "infinitely more dominant" than platforms like TikTok for building a business, since consuming a 5-second clip on TikTok results in little fan loyalty, whereas a 20-minute video allows people to sit down, watch, and "get to know you". Nevertheless, he maintains a presence on all platforms, including being the third most followed TikTok account in the world, to reach fragmented audiences.
Donaldson’s mission is deeply woven into his business practices, as emphasized in the conversation at The New York Times Events. He is passionate about being a "good role model" for his younger audience and avoids politics and controversy. This commitment drives his products, such as Feastables, which addresses illegal child labor on cacao farms by paying farmers a living income reference price. Donaldson leverages his videos, for example by building schools in villages that lack them, to shine a light on these complex issues, aiming for a "snowball effect" that could remove over a million children from child labor.
The move into streaming, notably Beast Games on Amazon Prime, which featured the largest cash prize ($10 million) and most contestants in entertainment history, was acknowledged as a strategic investment to acquire an older demographic of customers. Donaldson cited Steve Jobs' "endless obsession" with making the best product and Elon Musk’s "endless ambition" as inspirations. Henbald concluded that the company's mission is to be the "most impactful entertainment brand in the world," creating content that entertains, inspires, and educates, while making "kindness viral". Donaldson’s commitment is intense, confirming he works in front of a camera 27 to 28 days out of the month, a workload he recently amplified by going into "ultra grind mode" to focus his 300-person team on telling "even more impactful stories".
