MrBeast is reportedly ending his exclusive relationship with management company Night.
Two people familiar with the matter told Semafor that “in recent days,” MrBeast–aka Jimmy Donaldson–told Night it will no longer be his primary manager. He will apparently still remain with Night in some capacity, but will shift some aspects of his business to other management companies in the creator industry.
We reached out to Night for comment on the veracity of the report, but haven’t heard back. Night told Semafor it expects to have an ongoing relationship with Donaldson, if not an exclusive one.
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Donaldson began working with Night founder/CEO Reed Duchscher in February 2018, and announced his official signing with Night in January 2019. According to Semafor‘s sources, the split is caused by friction stemming from Duchscher’s refusal to move Night operations from its headquarters in Austin to Donaldson’s hometown of Greenville, North Carolina, as well as his handling of Donaldson’s Feastables chocolate brand.
Duchscher had a major role in the development of Feastables, and Donaldson reportedly asked him to take over leading the brand in 2023. (Worth noting: Feastables recently underwent a complete reformulation and repackaging.) Feastables has had occasional stocking issues, with Donaldson sometimes asking fans to volunteer and clean up notoriously messy displays in big box stores like Walmart.
Night had a hand too in MrBeast Burger, the ghost kitchen delivery brand Donaldson launched in 2020 with Virtual Dining Concepts. He’s now suing Virtual Dining Concepts, alleging that it harmed the MrBeast empire by failing to ensure quality control. (Worth noting: In 2021, Duchscher told The New Consumer he “[knew] we were going to have quality-control issues” with MrBeast Burger due to the nature of the ghost kitchen business, but went ahead with the venture because “We needed to create a spectacle.”)
The apparent split is also due to Donaldson taking “increasingly personal control of his business,” Semafor reports, adding that he may struggle to find new representation because he’s known for being a difficult client.
While it doesn’t seem like Night will lose Donaldson entirely, this partial departure may cause issues for the management company.
Back in February, MrBeast told TIME that his collective business dealings bring in between $600 and $700 million per year–a solid chunk of which has likely been going to Night. On top of financials, Night’s relationship with Donaldson has helped it grow to sign dozens of top creators, including Ryan Trahan, Safiya Nygaard, Kai Cenat, Unspeakable, and ZHC. Night has also launched its own investment fund, Night Ventures, started its own production studio led by YouTube‘s former Head of Unscripted Originals, Alex Piper, and, most recently, acquired Rooster Teeth‘s podcast network The Roost, with shows by creators like Theo Von, Phil DeFranco, and Ludwig.
