MrBeast celebrates 100 million YouTube subscribers

• YouTuber MrBeast became the second creator to hit 100 million subscribers on Thursday.
• The YouTuber celebrated by streaming his reaction live on YouTube and thanking his followers.
• He also said he had other ideas for videos to post and thought this was “just the start” of his career.

YouTube star MrBeast has become the second individual creator to hit 100 million subscribers, having hit the milestone on July 28.

MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, documented his reaction live in a YouTube stream, where he thanked fans for their support.

“I appreciate each and every one of you watching the videos. It’s literally all I’ve done with my life,” he said, adding, “All I do is waking up every day and obsessing over how to make the best videos That’s all I care about It’s the only thing that’s ever really made me happy.

Donaldson’s channel is the fifth most subscribed channel in the world, and he is one of the most watched and highest paid creators on the platform. The only other individual YouTube creator to have already reached 100 million subscribers is gaming influencer PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, who currently has 111 million subscribers.

Donaldson said he has many more content ideas he wants to post on his channel and plans to build his career on YouTube for another 20-30 years.

“I feel like this is just the beginning, and I don’t know if that sounds arrogant to say, but I really feel like this is just the beginning and I have so much more to give creatively,” he said in the stream.

Donaldson also tweeted celebratory messages on July 28, saying “I’m grateful to be able to do this all day everyday,” in a Tweeterand swearing in another one that, “no matter how small I am, I will never own a mansion, a yacht, a Lamborghini, etc. All I want to do is make the best videos I can and help as many people as I can by doing it.”

A post shared by MrBeast (@mrbeast)

The YouTuber has earned a reputation among fans for his selfless videos, where he often gives away large sums of money to viewers. He rose to fame in 2018 by donating thousands of dollars to small Twitch streamers and YouTubers, and more recently filming elaborate competitions, where fans compete in videos for the chance to win big prizes. In 2021, he recreated the Netflix Show Squid Game for a competition involving 456 fans and gave away $500,000 to a fan in a competition inspired by Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

Donaldson also founded a humanitarian aid company called Beast Philanthropy in 2020 to support people living in poverty, and also owns a burger chain and a line of chocolate products.

For more stories like this, check out Insider’s digital literacy team coverage here.