'Squid Game' Host Popular US YouTuber
Once Battled Crohn's Disease and Gave Up Dream of Baseball Player
"Reinvests All Earnings"
American popular YouTuber MrBeast, who has 200 million subscribers, was revealed to earn around 900 billion KRW annually.
Jimmy Donaldson (real name), who operates as YouTuber MrBeast, disclosed in an interview with the U.S. current affairs weekly magazine Time on the 15th (local time) that his annual income is about 600 to 700 million dollars (approximately 800 billion to 930 billion KRW). He added, "I am not wealthy at the moment because I reinvest all the money I earn," and said, "The strategy of foolishly reinvesting everything with a single-minded determination for success resonated with the public."
Time reported, "MrBeast puts a lot of effort into making each 15-minute video, building large-scale sets every time and filming for 12,000 hours." MrBeast secured a global fan base with these groundbreaking videos. Currently, the MrBeast channel has 239 million subscribers.
The most viewed video among his works is the 'Squid Game' video he hosted two years ago. This project, which gathered ordinary people with a prize of $456,000 (about 600 million KRW), currently has 570 million views. Time referred to him as a "video wizard" and evaluated, "There is probably no one on Earth among the younger generation or those with children who does not know MrBeast."
MrBeast is also famous for producing various charity projects as video content. It is reported that he was once a promising baseball player but had to give up his dream after being diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Some of his charity content has also been involved in controversies.
He has supported the cost of 1,000 cataract surgeries and carried out large-scale charity projects such as digging 100 wells in Africa, but some voices criticized his actions as "playing the hero rather than fundamentally solving inequality issues." Regarding this, MrBeast said, "I want to be a cool person whom children can respect," and added, "Instead of alcohol and drugs, I want to have a positive influence through charity and content."
Meanwhile, Time reported that he employs about 500 staff members and is experiencing growing pains such as frequent turnover due to pressure over performance.
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