MrBeast shared that creating his Amazon show “Beast Games” was “not a good financial decision.” The YouTuber, known as Jimmy Donaldson, made these remarks during his appearance on the podcast “Diary Of A CEO” with Steven Bartlett.
“I lost tens of millions of dollars on that show,” Donaldson stated.
Despite “Beast Games“, which premiered in December, becoming one of Amazon’s biggest series debuts of 2024, MrBeast claimed the financial outcome was disappointing. He explained, “I lost a ton of money filming the show, so that came out of my pocket.”
The 10-episode reality competition features contestants vying for cash prizes up to $5 million. According to Amazon, it amassed over 50 million viewers within its first 25 days and became Prime Video’s most-viewed unscripted series ever as of January.
However, this success did not shield Donaldson from significant financial losses. “I lost tens of millions of dollars on that show. I’m an idiot,” he remarked, revealing that the sets for the first two episodes alone cost more than $29 million in total. He confirmed that the overall production cost exceeded $100 million.
Even with the substantial losses, Donaldson expressed no regrets, saying, “For me, it was about making season one as good as possible. I can’t let the YouTube community down because creators don’t have a good reputation when it comes to doing stuff on streaming platforms.” He further added, “If I fail, it’s over; no streaming platform is ever going to touch a YouTuber ever again.”
In another part of the conversation, Donaldson discussed his personal finances with Bartlett, revealing he has “less than a million dollars” in his bank account.
When asked if he was a billionaire, Donaldson, who has over 365 million subscribers on YouTube, replied, “On paper, yeah. But I mean, in my actual bank account, I have less than a million dollars.”
He explained that while he pays himself a salary, he prefers to take just enough to cover his monthly expenses, opting instead to reinvest the majority of his earnings back into his ventures. “Money is fuel to grow business,” he stated. “You find a business that you enjoy that’s better for Mother Nature or Earth or people, and there you go, you have a fulfilled life. That’s my theory.”
