PewDiePie avenged: MrBeast passes T-Series to become YouTube’s most-subscribed channel

MrBeast has reached another milestone in his impressive career on YouTube. Jimmy Donaldson now has 270 million subscribers on his primary channel. By reaching that number, MrBeast has surpassed Indian record label T-Series to earn the title of most-subscribed channel on YouTube.

Donaldson’s ascension to the most-subscribed throne has been a foregone conclusion for months. As we’ve discussed in our weekly roundups of YouTube’s most-watched channels, MrBeast has been gaining subs at a faster rate than T-Series for months.

The North Carolina-based creator has long expressed his desire to catch T-Series, which claimed YouTube’s subscriber crown after taking it from Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg. Donaldson made a name for himself by supporting PewDiePie during the Swedish gamer’s battle with T-Series, and last year, he vowed to avenge his fellow creator by making MrBeast YouTube’s most-subscribed channel.

T-Series did not relinquish its title without a fight. As MrBeast closed in on the subscriber record, his Indian foe invoked the words of its departed founder Gulshan Kumar, who wanted to “put India and my people at top of the international platform.” T-Series now sits with 266 million subscribers, and MrBeast’s lead in the category is projected to expand in the coming months.

Donaldson posted a celebratory tweeting after taking the subscriber record from T-Series. He noted that he reached the milestone after getting the most subscribers he has ever added in a single day. More than two million accounts subscribed to MrBeast to push him across the finish line.

Other creators who have held the title of “most-subscribed YouTube channel” include Smosh, Ray William Johnson, and Ryan Higa. PewDiePie had the longest run at the top of that ranking. He spent 1,920 days as the most-subscribed act on YouTube.

Though MrBeast has caught T-Series in terms of subscribers, his fans shouldn’t expect him to equal the record label’s lifetime viewership anytime soon. T-Series has the most views in YouTube history, with more than 256 billion of them. For comparison, MrBeast’s lifetime viewership total (on his main account) currently sits at about 50.3 billion.