MrBeast Becomes Most Subscribed YouTube Channel

Facts

• YouTuber MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, has dethroned India's T-Series as the most subscribed-to channel on the platform.¹
• This comes as the MrBeast account reached more than 266.7M subscribers over the weekend, surpassing 270M subscriptions on Monday. T-Series previously sat at the top spot with 266M subscribers.²
• The 26-year-old was already the most subscribed-to individual account on YouTube, and became the highest-paid YouTuber in 2022. He has nearly 100M followers on TikTok.³
• MrBeast's channel, which has been around since 2012, is famous for its elaborate challenges in which people compete for huge cash prizes.⁴
• Five years ago, the now-former largest YouTube channel, T-Series, which uploads trailers and music videos, ended the six-year reign of the Swedish star PewDiePie on the platform.⁵
• MrBeast, who strongly supported PewDiePie's failed campaign to stay in the top spot, said that he had 'avenged' the YouTuber, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, by overtaking the Bollywood music label.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²The Hill, ³Daily Mail, ⁴Business Insider, ⁵Independent and ⁶Verge.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by FOX News. It's great news that MrBeast is now YouTube's no. 1 channel, particularly because it offers a role model for everyone from Gen Z to Boomers at a time when civility has become rare. As he promotes philanthropy and consensus, his online presence teaches the world valuable lessons to inspire the next generation.
• Narrative B, as provided by ABC Australia. Though MrBeast, or Jimmy Donaldson, is a brilliant content creator who seems to be a nice guy acting in good faith to help people, his philanthropy-as-entertainment approach may cause more harm than good. There are risks that younger people will understand charity as a business model, unable to differentiate it from content creation.