YouTuber “Mr.Beast” has a fortune of $1 billion, making him the first billionaire under 30 who didn’t inherit his wealth

YouTuber James Stephen, better known by his online alias “Mr.Beast,” has become the eighth-youngest billionaire in the world at the age of 27. His fortune has reached $1 billion.

The American YouTuber’s channels, including Mr.Beast, Mr.Beast Reacts, Mr.Beast Gaming, and Mr.Beast for Charity, collectively have over 415 million subscribers. His early content included video game commentary, reaction videos, and humorous compilations. Mr. Beast first gained widespread attention in 2017 with a viral video titled “Counting to 100,000,” which took 44 hours to complete and garnered over 21 million views. Building on this success, he went on to create other viral tricks, such as counting to 200,000, reading the entire dictionary, and taking on unusual challenges such as watching a music video continuously for 10 hours.

By 2018, Mr. Beast had specialized in what is now known as “showbiz philanthropy,” producing videos featuring interesting challenges that included huge cash prizes. One of his first popular videos featured him donating $1,000 to strangers. In subsequent videos, the amounts increased exponentially, eventually reaching hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars.

In December 2019, he organized a challenge in which participants had to hold their hands over a pile of $1 million in cash, with the last person to raise their hand winning the prize. Mr. Beast is known for investing most of his video profits into producing new content. In November 2022, reports emerged that he was seeking investors for his company, valuing it at $1.5 billion.