This YouTuber gives millions of dollars to help people in need. How's he doing it?

He has pulled off similar philanthropy stunts with clickbait video titles, like paying a waitress a $10,000 tip, giving $100,000 to people who had lost their jobs during the pandemic, providing hearing aids to 1,000 deaf people while also giving them $10,000 in cash, helping 2,000 amputees walk again and giving 20,000 pairs of shoes to kids in Africa. The production cost of each video that he uploads on YouTube costs somewhere around $1 million.

In his latest stunt, he announced on Instagram that he’d be giving away $50,000 to five followers ($10,000 each) if they shared his story and tagged someone in the comments. His post has beaten the record for most likes and most comments on an Instagram post.

The question is, where does he get the money to do this?

MrBeast makes more than a living through hefty sponsorship deals, his merch shop, from which he earns half a million dollars per month, and YouTube ad revenue. 

In an interview with the Rolling Stones last year, Donaldson says he doesn’t “give a f*** about money” and plans to give it all away before he dies. “I don’t want to live my life chasing from the next shiny object to the next shiny object. It’s a sad, miserable way to go about life.”

After the success of his main channel, he also started ‘Beast Philanthropy,’ which contributes all of its revenue to nonprofits that operate mobile food donations in eastern North Carolina. Given that piles and piles of cash are lying around in his home at any given time, there have been break-in attempts at his house, along with other security concerns. He has since moved into a gated community with bulletproof windows and triple-steel reinforced doors. Additionally, he's always accompanied by a bodyguard whenever he steps out.

Donaldson rose to fame when he spent approximately $4 million dollars to recreate Squid Game and awarded the winner a $456,000 prize. The video has over 416 million views as of today.

But it’s not all fun and games at Donaldson’s North Carolina pad. There have been accusations of a toxic and difficult work environment by former employees. Donaldson also ran into some trouble in 2016 for a transphobic post in which he said he sexually identified as an attack helicopter and a tank.