Is it time for MrBeast to hit the New York Stock Exchange? Three years ago, the idea of a YouTuber with a $1.5 billion valuation left some onlookers incredulous — but Beast Industries ended up raising at a $5 billion valuation last year. Now we’re asking a bigger question: Would you buy stock in a 27-year-old named Jimmy?
It’s getting to the point where even if you don’t have a child under the age of 15, you should know who MrBeast is. The North Carolinian Jimmy Donaldson’s MrBeast channel has over 450 million YouTube subscribers — more than any other YouTube channel — making him arguably the most successful social media star ever.
So it made sense when at the DealBook Summit, reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin asked MrBeast and Jeff Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, about going public.
“You want to have an IPO at some point, I imagine,” said Sorkin.
“At some point, we want to be able to give the 1.4 billion unique people around the world who has watched Jimmy’s content the last 90 days a chance to be owners of the company,” Housebold replied. Sounds pretty much like a yes, as we can’t imagine another practical way to give ownership stakes to over a billion people.
Like other major creators, the MrBeast business expands far beyond YouTube ad revenue and into a company called Beast Industries. Its biggest moneymaker is Feastables chocolate, which is more profitable than both the MrBeast YouTube channel and the Prime Video show “Beast Games,” according to leaked documents reported on by Bloomberg.
Housenbold also mentioned that Beast Industries plans to build a two-sided marketplace for creators and marketers to work together (this idea has been explored by many creator economy startups already). Plus, the company is planning to launch a phone company, a financial services platform, and a theme park in Saudi Arabia. Sure, why not!
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Donaldson’s business has had its share of stumbles, though. Beast Industries is in an ongoing lawsuit with the ghost kitchen Virtual Dining Concepts for damaging his brand by selling “inedible” food from MrBeast Burger. Virtual Dining Concepts countersued him for allegedly breaching his contract.
Then, after filming the first season of “Beast Games,” five contestants sued Donaldson and Amazon for alleged mistreatment and sexual harassment on set. The heavily redacted lawsuit states that the show filmed in an environment that “systematically fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism.”
In conversation at DealBook, Donaldson said, “The big thing is, obviously, I learned why people don’t have 2,000 people compete in a show, because you’re creating a scenario where 1,999 aren’t happy, because they didn’t win … I don’t know how openly I’m allowed to speak, but obviously, yes, some people sue you. I’m sure people in here have been sued before because they just want to try to make money.”
Housenbold cut in, “Listen, we’re always learning and getting better.” He was interrupted by laughter from the crowd. “Mistakes are part of success, so Season 2 is a lot better.”
Not that Beast Industries’ missteps would prevent it from going public eventually, especially if it moves past them and can build the management discipline needed to bear the scrutiny of being public.
Donaldson wouldn’t be the first creator-run business to go public — but he could pull off the first creator IPO that actually works. The esports team FaZe Clan went public in a $725 million SPAC but got acquired a year later in 2023 for just $17 million. In November, Pinkfong — the company that made the most-watched YouTube video, “Baby Shark” — went public in Korea.
“From day one, we’re a global media company, and now we’re working on monetizing that viewership, that fandom, and that trust we built,” Housenbold said.
