Nicole Lapin

It clocks in at 24 hours long.

The video is still on YouTube if you want to see it.

I definitely did not watch the entire thing.

I skipped around a little bit, but I did find the edit equal parts absurd

and compelling.

When he posted this video, it went viral almost immediately.

He hit 1 million subscribers that same year.

The video sounds really silly on paper for sure, and maybe it is, but it does show a deep understanding of what the internet wanted in that era.

Commitment to a ridiculous bit and putting serious effort into a very unserious stunt.

From there, Jimmy started reinvesting every single dollar he made back into bigger, more elaborate content.

Here's how MrBeast's model actually works, because it's not what most people think.

YouTube ad revenue is definitely the engine, but it's not the profit center.

His channels, he has over a dozen of them, pulled in roughly 9 billion views in 2024 alone.

The main channel now has over 469 million subscribers, making it the most subscribed to account on YouTube.

It's hard to find legit information on how much brands actually pay for sponsored content on Mr. Beast's channels, but his earnings from content and brand deals in 2024 were estimated at $85 million by Forbes.

It sounds like that should have been an amazing year for Mr. Beast's bank account.

but he actually spent most of it.

Individual YouTube videos cost Mr. Beast between three and $5 million each to make.

His production company Beast Industries had over $473 million in total revenue in 2024 and still ran out of loss because he poured everything back into the business.

So no, the content itself is not how Mr. Beast is getting so rich.