Content creator Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast is well-known across social media, with many familiar with his videos shared on YouTube, where he has more than 200 million subscribers.
In recent months, MrBeast was encouraged to post his videos on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to test the monetization efforts put in place for content creators on the platform.
What Happened: Out of curiosity, MrBeast uploaded an old video to X in January that he had already shared to Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL-owned YouTube to test out the ad compensation.
The video was shared by X owner Elon Musk and saw a ton of views on the platform, with many fans of the platform encouraging sharing and viewership to help with the test. Musk’s tweet sharing the video had over 56 million views alone. It was also alleged X may have promoted the video from MrBeast based on findings from users not disclosing the post as an ad in their feeds.
MrBeast later shared the results of the video.
“My first X video made over $250,000! But it’s a bit of a façade. Advertisers saw the attention it was getting and bought ads on my video (I think) and thus my revenue per view is prob higher than what you’d experience.”
A screenshot shared by MrBeast reveals the tweet had 156,685,975 impressions and earned $263,665 in revenue.
Users were also intrigued as to how much the original YouTube video made but that question has not been publicly answered at the time of writing.
YouTube has been the platform of choice for the popular content creator.
Millions of views are common for MrBeast videos, with them ranking as the top individual and second overall YouTube account with 223 million subscribers, trailing only T-Series, an Indian music channel (255 million subscribers).
Thanks to his success on YouTube, earnings estimates for MrBeast state he made $82 million from June 2022 to June 2023.
The content of MrBeast's videos varies widely, encompassing everything from competitive contests and extreme challenges to philanthropic activities, as well as a series of educational videos comparing $1 versus $1,000,000 spending scenarios.
The talk of monetized videos on X was ramped up after MrBeast used the platform to share that he had uploaded a new video on YouTube back in December 2023.
“I uploaded, go watch or I’ll drop kick you,” MrBeast tweeted to his 25 million Twitter followers in December.
The comment prompted a response from popular Twitter user and Elon Musk-fan Doge Designer, who said that MrBeast should upload his videos on X, too. The comment also prompted a response of “Yeah” from Musk agreeing with Doge Designer.
MrBeast shared the reason why he uploads to YouTube and not X in a response.
“My videos cost millions to make and even if they got a billion views on X it wouldn’t fund a fraction of it. I’m down though to test stuff once monetization is really cranking!” MrBeast said.
Related Link: MrBeast Signs Deal With NBA Team For Feastables Jersey Sponsorship: Here Are The Details, Why It's Important
Why It’s Important: Musk acquired X, then known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022 and one of the changes he made was paying out a portion of advertising revenue to users, hoping to boost the presence of the social media platform as a home for content creators.
MrBeast is known for his interactions with Twitter and Musk, highlighted by a pinned tweet on his X profile where Musk jokingly promises that the content creator would inherit X if Musk were to die under mysterious circumstances.
Social media users previously pushed for MrBeast to become the CEO of Musk’s newly acquired company when he announced that he would be selecting someone to replace himself in the role.
“Can I be the new Twitter CEO?” MrBeast asked at the time.
“It’s not out of the question,” Musk replied.
In July 2023, MrBeast offered a giveaway of his X monthly revenue to a user who got the most likes on a response.
Videos from MrBeast regularly get 100 million or more views on YouTube, and the posting of videos on X could provide a boost to the platform.
In 2023, MrBeast had several videos hit the 250 million views mark on YouTube, including a video about plane tickets costing $1 vs. $500,000 hitting 316 million views as his fourth most-watched video.
MrBeast’s top-watched video remains a “Squid Game” in real life challenge that was released over two years ago and has more than 550 million views.
The content creator soared in popularity, also branching out into entrepreneurship with products such as his Feastables candy bars that put him in competition with Hershey Co HSY.
The growth of Feastables prompted Hershey’s to start taste tests of its candy bars against the ones from MrBeast. A short seller also shared the impact MrBeast’s brand and growth could have on Hershey’s over time.
While X is expected to expand its monetization opportunities, MrBeast's observations suggest that, as of now, other platforms are more financially rewarding for high-profile content creators.
MrBeast is also reported to be working on content for Amazon Prime Video, a platform owned by Amazon.com Inc AMZN. While MrBeast may keep uploading old videos, it looks like for now other platforms are going to get his original content first.
Photos: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
