MrBeast is pulling back the curtain on his finances — and the reality may surprise fans who see him as one of the richest creators on the internet.
The YouTube superstar, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has built a massive empire over the past several years. According to Forbes, the 27-year-old earned an estimated $85 million in the year leading up to June 2025, while Fortune reports that his company, Beast Industries, is valued at a staggering $5 billion. Still, Donaldson insists his personal bank account tells a very different story.
“It’s funny talking about my personal finances because no one ever believes anything I say, because they’re like, ‘You’re a billionaire,’” Donaldson said during a video interview with The Wall Street Journal. “I’m like, that’s net worth.”
The content creator went on to explain that his wealth largely exists on paper, not in cash he can actually spend day to day. “I actually … I have negative money right now. 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, or whatever.”
Donaldson has previously shared that he keeps less than $1 million in his personal bank account, describing himself as a billionaire “on paper” only. Rather than focusing on his own finances, he says his attention is fully on growing his brand.
“I just don’t really think of it. I wake up, I just work. I’m just so busy working. I don’t really think about my personal bank account, if that makes sense,” he told the outlet. “I’m just laser-focused on making the greatest videos possible and building the business as big as possible.”
That said, Donaldson admitted to one major personal splurge — a pricey trip to see his now-fiancée, Thea Booysen, while she was studying in the U.K. After struggling to make commercial flights work, he decided to charter a private jet.
“One time, I was like, ‘Screw it, I’m just gonna rent a private jet and fly to her,’” he explained. The eight-hour flight reportedly cost $150,000. “I felt so bad, but I just really wanted to see my fiancée,” he added.
In June 2025, Donaldson echoed the same sentiment in a candid post on X, revealing he was even borrowing money from his mom to help pay for his wedding. “I personally have very little money because I reinvest everything (I think this year we’ll spend around a quarter of a billion on content),” he wrote. “Ironically I’m actually borrowing $ from my mom to pay for my upcoming wedding lol.”
Despite the eye-popping numbers attached to his name, Donaldson has been clear that reinvesting is the key to his success. As he told TIME in February 2024, “I’ve reinvested everything to the point of — you could claim — stupidity… And it’s worked out.”
