MrBeast has ambitions to be the next Disney but company is reportedly hemorrhaging money

YouTube star Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson’s ‘Beast Industries’ has ambitions to be like Disney, but the company has reportedly been hemorrhaging money. 

As well as having the most-subscribed-to channel on YouTube, MrBeast has been expanding into other fields. Donaldson, who rose to stardom with his massive challenge videos, is now in food and snacks with Feastables and Lunchly. 

He has produced Beast Games for Amazon Prime Video, an expansion of his massively successful Squid Game-inspired YouTube videos. It has already been renewed for a second season, and he wants to launch a mobile phone network.

However, he and his Beast Industries team have grander plans. They want to be the new-age Disney, even with Jimmy taking a bit of a backseat on YouTube.

Beast Industries is aiming to be like Disney

Speaking to Bloomberg, Jeff Housenbold, the CEO of Beast Industries, revealed that Donaldson will always be the “cornerstone” of things but he is regularly full booked up on appearances.

“There’s such a bigger opportunity here than just being a YouTuber. Jimmy will always be the cornerstone, but Jimmy doesn’t scale. He already filmed 26, 27, 28 days a month,” he said. 

On top of that, Housenbold noted that the goal of the Beast team is to be like Disney. They have drafted up a handful of animated characters that they want to expand into a series, comic books, and toys. 

However, they have been “hemorrhaging” money over the last few years, including losing more than $110 million in 2024. As per Bloomberg, though, Beast Industries has been valued at over $5 billion by an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates.

“I know how to make better content on YouTube than anyone else in the world,” MrBeast added, noting a recent change in his videos. 

“We definitely found the point where more money doesn’t equal more views. If I were to give a random person on the street a million dollars, a lot of people who see that video, especially because we have a very international audience—they just don’t think it’s real.”

Housenbould revealed that the company is on target to be profitable in 2026, after likely breaking even in 2025, and there’s even new investment coming too. 

Though, they have had to create a “Jimmy fund” to account for any unexpected expenses – like his $400,000 donation to Team Water.