MrBeast is arguably one of the most popular social media personalities around today, with over 460 million followers on YouTube, a company worth over $5 billion, and even his own theme park, but Jimmy Donaldson, the real-world name of the onscreen influencer, says he's cash poor.
In an interview earlier this month with The Wall Street Journal, Donaldson said the majority of his fortune is on paper, which means he doesn't have the cash on hand so many people expect he does.
“I’m borrowing money. That’s how little money I have,” he said. “Technically, everyone watching this video has more money than me in their bank account if you subtract the equity value of my company, which doesn’t buy me McDonald’s in the morning. … It’s funny talking about my personal finances, because no one ever believes anything I say. They’re like, ‘You’re a billionaire!’ I’m like, ‘That’s net worth.’ I have negative money right now.”
Donaldson says the money he makes goes back into his business ventures. He estimated last June that the company would spend roughly $250 million on content.
"I personally have very little money because I reinvest everything," he said in a social media post last summer. "Ironically I’m actually borrowing $ from my mom to pay for my upcoming wedding.”
More money is on the way to Donaldson (or his business). On Thursday, Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced a $200 million investment in Beast Industries.
“It’s our view that Ethereum, which is a smart contract platform, is the future of finance, where digitalization of not only dollars but stocks and equities [are] going to take place,” Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee told CNBC. “Over time, that really blurs what is a service versus what’s digital money, and that’s where a collaboration and investment into Beast Industries makes sense.”