MrBeast seeks funding at $5 billion valuation

MrBeast wants to expand a holding company that encompasses all of the initiatives he has launched since erupting to YouTube fame, and he plans to fund that restructuring through a massive investment. According to Bloomberg, Jimmy Donaldson has spoken to several financial firms about a possible funding round that would value MrBeast’s holding company at $5 billion.

The MrBeast holding company houses the creator’s videomaking operation as well as his offline ventures, including the snack brand Feastables and the Lunchables competitor Lunchly. Those divisions reportedly combined to reach $400 million in sales last year, according to a pair of Bloomberg‘s sources.

Despite Donaldson’s substantial financial gains, he is well known for his practice of reinvesting the majority of his earnings in his future content. So even though he has broken records with projects like his Prime Video original series Beast Games, his big-budget productions take millions of dollars away from his bottom line.

Donaldson has committed to that idiosyncratic approach by reshuffling his executive team, bringing more MrBeast-related operations in-house. His split from management firm Night

gave him even more control over his burgeoning business, and he solidified that transition by hiring Jeffrey Housenbold — formerly of VC firm SoftBank — as the President and CEO of a new operation titled Beast Industries.

The shifting MrBeast business model allows the titular creator to steer the ship and avoid situations like the relationship breakdown between Donaldson and MrBeast Burger partner Virtual Dining Concepts. A massive funding round would give the North Carolina-based star the freedom to execute his vision for brands like Feastables and Lunchly. He and Lunchly co-founders Logan Paul and KSI have already pushed back on Lunchly criticism by touting the nutritional value of the meal kits.

The restructuring of the MrBeast business is the next step in a process that could bring Donaldson and his cadre to the top of the entertainment world. If Donaldson can show that his vision for the MrBeast family of brands has legs, a long-rumored IPO could come afterward.