Who the hell is MrBeast?

@KingThrillgore @asklemmy YouTuber who make money off of throwing money at people to do ridiculous things.
I do not like his content cause it feels like a billionaire playing with the little people for his amusement.

I enjoyed a few when I first came across the channel because it reminded me of those shows from decades ago. The ones where someone comes up to you in a toy / electronics store and you have a minute to grab whatever you can for free. That was a fun concept.

billionaire playing with the little people for his amusement

However a lot more of the videos feel like this, especially with how well known he is now. I don't think I'm the target age group regardless.
My understanding is that he got his start doing extreme challenges himself, so now that he's got the money, he challenges fans and gives prize payouts. He also still does his own challenges once in a while.
Offtopic, but what does the "map" in your profile means?

I think you could happily live your life not knowing who he is. I will say that he's a master at knowing what will make someone click on his videos.

He’s a master at knowing what will make someone click

He effectively dedicated a couple years to “study” this, which is exactly what you can do with your life when you live in Greenville, NC.
a master at knowing what will make someone click on his videos

Coincidentally also a master at knowing what will make me never click on them (yes it's the horrifying face he makes)
- Lots of YT creators edit their face to look strange or unsettling. I'm the same as you, though I think it's more the gimmicky nature of his content I'm a bit put off by.
On that note, there is this browser extension

https://dearrow.ajay.app/

DeArrow is an open source browser extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails on YouTube. The goal is to make titles accurate and reduce sensationalism. No more arrows, ridiculous faces, and no more clickbait.

It's nice because it will affect all the videos equally. I didn't want to use it initially because it was messing with my ability to remember which videos I had already seen. I might give it a try again since people keep changing video thumbnails now
- You also have the opposite here to add MrBeast to every YouTube thumbnail https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/youtube-mrbeastify/dbmaeobgdodeimjdjnkipbfhgeldnmeb?hl=en
He's a master at knowing what will make someone click on his videos

Spoiler alert: it's this face 😲
- It is 2024 and I am upset that there still isn't a Punch option in the right click menu.
I will say that he's a master at knowing what will make someone click on his videos.

Well, his methods haven't caught OP and me.
- He’s a master at making children click his videos

A bourgeois philanthropist that uses philanthropy as his business model.

To combine a bunch of explanations I've seen in the comments here:

A bourgeois philanthropist game show producer who dabbles in poverty porn.

That said, I do occasionally burn time watching some of his videos, however some of the content (especially the more recent game show ones which feel a bit like toying with people) rub me the wrong way.

I have no idea if his philanthropy efforts are genuine or not - he's barely visible in those videos (he has another individual hosting those videos) although I do appreciate the efforts they appear to go to when assisting communities desperately in need, and careful implementation of solutions that are sustainable, and can actually be maintained and fixed with local knowledge.

I've seen way too many "gimmicky" charity contributions by other organizations that become worthless as soon as they break because nobody fixes them, as well as other solutions that seemingly make sense from a western cultural lens but aren't really understood by the local people... worst one being a "merry-go-round" water pump mechanism where senior locals are forced to "play" just to pump water for survival. It was originally intended as a kids toy, but they of course don't have any attachment to such a foreign device, thus don't use it.

Ehhh apologies for the mini rant there 😅
- Edit: I didn't see the hit piece / exposé that was made about him until now
  
  From what I know about him, he is a genuine person, and his projects are done to help people if possible.
  
  I know that many influencers profit off of suffering/kindness in a scummy way, but I believe that MrBeast is one of the few that actually try to do it ethically.
- I feel the same way. The only videos I watch are the ones on the philanthropy channel and the ones where the core is giving away money or stuff (e.g. cars) to random people (or people in need).
  
  Though, I also question the sustainability of (some of) the philanthropy actions. Don't get me wrong, giving water and light to people in the middle of nowhere is nice, but when they become dependent and they can't fix it when it breaks, they could be screwed big time.
  
  The like five minutes I "researched" the "main" guy of the philanthropy channel (Derrick? Taran?) I came to the conclusion that he seems genuinely dedicated to trying helping people.
My understanding is that there is also a Democratic element to his business model which also works as a form of engagement from his fans who give him their money.

A branch of the American healthcare system.

You're not alone. For how immensely popular he is, I've yet to ever watch any of his videos, or even have YouTube recommend them to me.

Only reason I know about him are a few videos from other channels, like the epic rap battles of history episode, and one that was criticizing his ghost kitchen. But I think the first time I heard about him was when every YouTuber was trying to jump on his hype when he was planting a ton of trees or something like that?

I tried watching a video of his once because I was genuinely interested in the subject. There were so many jump cuts it was unwatchable. Now I know all YouTube videos for kids are like that
- Yea honestly I cant really watch it either. Shortform content and hyoeractive content just annoys the hell out of me.
- It's a worrying trend; kids can't focus at all these days. They're always craving for the dopamine rush.
- YouTube creators in general have loves their jump cuts for ages. At first I think it was because they were amateurs who were be to video editing and didn't understand established editing techniques. But now they do it intentionally because kids can't sit still for too long.
From what I hear he's really not so objectionable and people enjoy his videos. I am yet to ever watch one though and that's purely out of spite. Somehow YouTube seemed to try so hard to push this dude in particular that I decided to specifically not watch anything he was in, this meant avoiding his stuff and also anything from anyone else I actually like if I could tell from the thumbnail or description he was going to be in it. I just about managed it because I've never seen anything with him directly, but I have ended up seeing parodies of his videos so I now in spite of myself know what must usually be in them, and I've seen the famous video critiquing all the spin off food businesses he's started up off the back of his famous name.

He's probably really not that bad, even if his obscene wealth is objectionable, but my contrarian nature just can't abide all the hype and cheerleading. Hopefully when he finally stops being popular, I'll have managed to miss everything he's in and maintain my pointless personal record of dodging the beastly bullets.
- I don't know the details but there's a bunch of allegations coming out against him now. He's been objectionable for a while IMO, but it seems to only just now be coming out.
I also haven't seen anything from him, but I've seen things that talk about him. My understanding is he's a guy who makes outlandish videos, and some of that is "charity" (is it charity if you profit more off the video about it?) that got really popular. Other than that, I don't really know what he does.
- is it charity if you profit more off the video about it?
  
  Yes.
- If you make money from a video about charity, that can further help others? Absolutely.

All I know is he acts like Elon Musk is his friend, and that pretty much says everything.

The company you keep speaks volumes, and anyone who would gladly keep company with Musk is a fucking psychopath.

I think his companies are making around 800 mil/yr in revenue, so it's just billionares rubbing elbows. Class warfare as usual.
- Even if that number was true: Revenue isn't earnings! He has like 100-200 ppl working on the YouTube channel

Just another rich child man begging for your attention.

I'm curious as to why you say that as he literally used his first sponsorship to pay off his mom's mortgage and seems to come from an average standard of living.
- That, if true, doesn't invalidate that the guy is rich, immature, and makes a living from attracting people to pay him attention so he gets paid even more money. I said it because that's what he is.

This guy

I'm old. Not old enough to need a prostate exam, but old enough to potentially have children in his target demographic. That being said, he essentially has found a winning formula for videos that amounts to "give away lots of money and make it entertaining." I've watched a lot of his videos; they are entertaining and a decent way to kill 10 minutes.

I'm assuming you asked this question because of all the recent information that came to light calling him a fraud, and to be honest, it's kind of a big deal. Part of his brand has always been "these are random people, competing or doing a challenge to win a life-changing wad of cash." He's made a point on multiple occasions to say that his videos are never faked. It's not too dissimilar to any cable TV game show. The fact that these aren't random people and are employees or actors, and that the outcomes are fixed, makes the audience feel deceived.

It's the difference between why people watch pro wrestling vs MMA or boxing. With pro wrestling, we all know it's a show; it's a scripted performance, just like a movie or a play. People still watch it and enjoy it, but they know it's no different than watching a fictional TV show or going to the theater. In MMA or boxing, you're watching two people compete to see who's the better fighter. It doesn't have a predetermined outcome; you're watching a real competition.

The problem is that he has always presented himself as being "boxing" when in reality, he's "pro wrestling." The people featured in his videos aren't random subscribers trying to win money to send their kids to college or put a down payment on a house. They're employees or paid actors who are putting on a show for our entertainment. There's nothing wrong with mindless entertainment, but call it what it is.

TLDR: Fake videos, unsubscribed.

The fact that these aren't random people and are employees or actors, and that the outcomes are fixed, makes the audience feel deceived.

Oh I had no idea. I know some people seemed like friends/ other content creators, didn't know others were faked too

No idea. And I'm perfectly fine with that.

Can we please avoid all the editorializing in AskLemmy. I came to the comments to see an answer to this question and it's all comments about what people think about him instead of actually answering the question.

MrBeast is a really popular content creator that makes videos with high production value; similar to TV Show Contests but with a worldwide audience. He currently holds the title for the Youtube channel with the most subscribers.

About the drama revolving him; recently, it's surfaced that one of his friends in the channel called Kris has inappropriately talked with a minor back before; and an ex-MrBeast employee has came out telling that MrBeast himself was favoring people he knew over completely random subscribers; skewing the odds to make the challanges more interesting to watch and also a stream he did way before (signing every T-Shirt bought live) had various elements that are outright illegal in a lot of countries, saying stuff like "if you buy this within the next 10 minutes you have chance to get XXX".

He’s an uncomfortable fake smile.

My top vote as the YouTuber who looks the least like his actual handle implies.

Fun fact he actually started out by making minecraft videos in middle school. "Mr Beast" is literally a name thought up by a 12 year old trying to look cool on the internet.

Alright, I'll give you the only non-grumpy answer here apparently, from someone who actually knows him.

His name is Jimmy. He loves YouTube, and want to make the best videos possible.

He lived with his mom and brother in his childhood. No mention of a father. He played a little baseball, and besides that he really just wanted to make video content. The family was not rich.

His first brand deal he got, he received 10.000 dollars from a sponsor. He gave it all away to someone and filmed it, gaining another brand deal that then got better and better because he gained more viewers.

The concept today for almost all of his videos is "game show". Which means you almost always have a chance to win money. Sometimes he also just gave it random on the street.

He also is a part of Team Trees and Save the Ocean, doing some environmental work in his videos.

Now, Jimmy aka MrBeast has a philanthropy channel, where he hired two individuals to go and give money away around the world to poor villages in 3rd world countries.

He also sells chocolate from sustainable cocoa farms, that is also gentle to the stomach (Jimmy has a stomach disease, don't remember the name).

So yeah, that's MrBeast. He uses all his time and money on videos, and he himself live in a little bunker close to the film studio. He owns almost nothing for himself, but he does own the biggest YouTube brand there is.

Hope it helped.

Oh sweet summer child, how innocent. When someone is a multi-millionare/billionaire and they say they own nothing, just a quaint little bunker, they're lying to you.
- Oh sweet summer child
  
  Downvoted out of principle
from someone who actually knows him
- Lol, not it person. But the other comments dosent even know who he is on YouTube.

He's a YouTube personality who makes clickbait videos, does random stunts using millions of dollars at a time, and now has a candy bar offering.

If there is a Mr. Beast thumbnail that catches your interest, usually the last 2 minutes of the video has anything worth watching. The rest is fluff and sponsorships and BS worse than reality-TV.

What I gather from working in retail is that "Mr. Beast" is an incantation that brainwashes children into begging for candy bars they'd normally hate.

Some guy who runs illegal lotteries and gambling targeted at children

LA Beast is better

Never seen his videos nor will I

A guy who sells chocolate bars or something

Honestly, no idea.

Now you made me curious: Why do you know that someone named "MrBeast" exists and why does it interest you who this person is?

Mr beast is popping up in various internet news circles lately because one of his friends/"co-star"s in his youtube videos was just caught grooming a 12 year old. To make things even worse, Mr beast was aware that this friend of his was pedo for years and continued to make videos with him(her). She recently transitioned last year and that was a minor controversy of its own for Mr beast cause most of his audience is cringey transphobic teens and tweens.
- Holy shit…