The Most Popular YouTuber Aims to Create a Next-Generation Disney

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, a 27-year-old who has become the most popular YouTuber in the world, has built an empire with spectacular videos featuring enormous prizes, lavish sets, and incredible stunts such as blowing up a bank or racing cars against a cheetah. As one former employee stated, the idea for a video that was ‘bigger’ and ‘crazier’ would usually win, according to Business Insider.

Over the past year, Beast Industries — the holding company that consolidates Beast’s business — has begun to implement financial discipline in the creative process while building a narrative of ‘a next-generation Disney‘ for investors.

Jeffrey Housenbold, who joined the company in May 2024 and became CEO in September, is now leading a new era of discipline.

– My goal is to make everything we do profitable. Previously, it was all about ideas and content quality. Now I am directing the company towards creating great content that is both timely and within budget – he said.

According to a leaked investor document from 2025, Beast Industries was not profitable last year. Media revenues (YouTube and other content) in 2024 amounted to approximately $224 million, while expenses reached $344 million. The same projection predicts that this year the media business will turn a profit, with $317 million in revenue and $292 million in expenses.

New Strategy

The main challenge for Housenbold and the corporate team is how to introduce financial discipline into a production that has become synonymous with extravagance and spectacle. The company has begun tightening processes, from production to negotiating services such as insurance and software. It also aims to utilize artificial intelligence instead of increasing the number of employees.

Beast Industries once paid full price for products in videos, from drinks and exercise equipment to dozens of Teslas that MrBeast gave away. Now, a new branded partnerships team of eight members secures goods for free or enters contracts that allow MrBeast to earn as well. The company has also raised advertising prices, in some categories by up to 65 percent.

– We choose partners who are authentic and resonate with our viewers. We will never collaborate with products that are ‘cringe’,” Housenbold said.

A team has also been established to analyze the profitability of videos and the budget before building sets. Set designs are now planned to be reusable in future projects. MrBeast launched his channel over a decade ago, driven by instincts and without traditional media rules. However, with more than 350 employees (April 2025), the company increasingly operates by ‘Hollywood’ standards.

– It is becoming corporate. People are used to the Wild West, and such a company can no longer be run that way – said a former employee.

MrBeast’s brand is based on extravagance: private islands, spectacular charitable actions, and cash prizes are part of his signature content.

– Money is aspirational; everyone wants it. That’s why this is the most popular YouTube channel in the world – said another former employee.

Donaldson is known for discarding videos that do not meet his standards, even if he has already spent tens of thousands of dollars. He also does not skimp on fulfilling his creative vision. On a podcast, he admitted that he lost tens of millions of dollars on Amazon’s ‘Beast Games’ show, revealing that the sets for the first two installments cost over $29 million.

Revenue Diversification

Despite losses in media, Beast Industries also earns from other sources. Its Feastables business with chocolate bars and other products generated nearly half of its revenue in 2024 and was profitable.

The company also has a line of toys MrBeast Lab and is working on a companion animated series. As it expands, the company will need to control media business costs to achieve financial goals.

– We are always responsible for creating the best version of everything we do – said one former employee. People close to the company claim that this principle will not change, even though there is now an increasing demand for profitability while maintaining the image of YouTube’s largest consumer.