The rise of content creation has helped usher in a new generation of millionaires and one of its best-known faces is Jimmy Donaldson, known throughout social media as MrBeast who rose to fame on Youtube after Google (GOOGL) purchased it.
Since he first launched his channel in 2012 by posting videos of himself performing outrageous stunts, Donaldson has achieved significant fame and wealth, creating a prominent brand in the process.
In December 2024, Donaldson launched the Beast Games, a reality TV competition streamed on Amazon Prime (AMZN) . But now he has his sights set on something even bigger: owning TikTok and keeping it available in the U.S.
Jimmy Donaldson, known on social media as MrBeast, has submitted an offer to acquire TikTok with the help of some billionaires. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
MrBeast wants to buy TikTok but that’s not the whole story
Love him or hate him, you’ve probably seen MrBeast content somewhere on social media. His channels have the type of influence that it's almost impossible to ignore.
That’s especially true for the younger millennials and older Gen-Z members who came of age in the mid 2000s when MrBeast first started gaining fame. According to a post on Donaldson’s LinkedIn, his subscriber count rose from 15,429 to 2,009,414 in the span of just two years.
His content covers a truly wide range of topics, from giving his girlfriend 100,000 roses for Valentine’s Day to attempting to spend 50 hours buried alive. While they sometimes involve people taking on challenges that seem both foolish and dangerous, they often feature cash prizes for anyone willing to take them on.
Donaldson’s business model of either doing outlandish things himself or incentivizing others to do them has made him one of Youtube’s most successful personalities, allowing him to capitalize on the platform’s ad monetization policy.
In 2023, TheStreet reported that “Most sources agree that he is the world’s richest YouTuber by a significant margin. He made $54 million on the platform in 2021 alone — the most any individual YouTuber has ever made in a single year.”
According to recent reports, Donaldson is currently worth roughly $500 million. This comes not just from the monetization of his social media challenges but from brand partnerships, merchandise and sales and from other investments such as the BeastBurger restaurant franchise.
Now Donaldson seems focused on a new venture, specifically owning TikTok. On January 13, he stated in an X post, “Okay fine, I’ll buy Tik Tok so it doesn’t get banned.”
A few days later, he shared a video on his own TikTok in which he claimed he had submitted an all-cash offer to buy the platform after meeting with “a bunch of billionaires.”
While Donaldson didn’t provide much context in the video, reports indicate that one of his partners is Jesse Tinsley, serial entrepreneur and founder of Employer.com. As of this writing, no one else has come forward to admit that they are part of this group that has allegedly offered to buy TikTok.
It may be hard for some to believe that someone like Donaldson is serious about purchasing one of the industry’s most valuable companies. However, Tinsley has confirmed that a group that he is leading has submitted an offer to acquire the platform, mentioning Donaldson and praising him.
In a statement, he noted that their plan to buy TikTok represented a “win-win solution that preserves this vital platform, while addressing legitimate national security concerns.”
Can MrBeast actually buy TikTok?
With the TikTok ban temporarily suspended, the race is on to find a U.S. buyer who can actually purchase the platform. That won’t be a small task, given the high price tag.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives estimates that it is worth “well north of $US100 billion ($161 billion)” and could sell for as much as “$200 billion.”
Even the low end of that range is significantly higher than the $47 billion that Elon Musk paid for Twitter (now X) in 2022.
If his estimated net worth of $500 million is correct, then Donaldson will need to raise a lot of money to finance a TikTok acquisition. And the list of potential buyers includes several prominent billionaires, including Musk, Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison and real estate investor Frank McCourt, all of whom have significantly higher net worths than Donaldson.
Musk already owns X, which he purchased for significantly less than TikTok’s estimated worth after procuring loans and selling a portion of his Tesla (TSLA) stock. Donaldson is starting with a much lower net worth and a much higher price to reach, as well as several competitors with immense wealth and influence.
