Tracking the astronomical trajectory of Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson is a tough one because it's hard to pinpoint exactly what helped him stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Boasting the honor of being the most subscribed channel on YouTube is no small feat, and while all this fame and fortune have come with plenty of controversy, there's a reason MrBeast is still at the top of his game.
When not churning out YouTube videos where he's making people live on planes he then gives to them, spending a week in underground caves, or forcing streamers to fight for $1,000 on his YouTube channel, MrBeast is heading up the Squid Game-inspired Beast Games on Amazon, running companies like Lunchly and Feastables, and even teasing a potential run for President of the United States.
It's been a long road to get here, with Donaldson first posting to his MrBeast6000 channel and sharing "worst Minecraft saw trap ever???" in February 2012.
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Still, with 482 million subscribers on his main channel alone, his brand is unrivaled on YouTube. Things weren't always this way, and in a candid interview with Lewis Howes as part of his "The School of Greatness" podcast, Donaldson admitted that his mom once hid $10,000 from him.
As Donaldson decided a career in content creation was the one for him, he made the bold decision not to go to college.
This is something that his mom apparently thought was akin to him saying he was going to be homeless, fearing that her son wouldn't be able to make it as a YouTuber.
He told Howes that his parents filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and had lost everything, but hoping to ensure their son would never be homeless, his mom would later squirrel away $10,000 in case his creator career didn't take off.
The money was hidden in an account in Jimmy Donaldson's name, although he wouldn't find it until much later. Explaining what it was like when he stumbled across the mystery $10,000, MrBeast said: "Eventually found out about it and I was like, 'Oh that’s perfect I can spend a little more on this next video', and I mean, I’ve never seen her cry more than that."
While Jimmy was ready to splash this amount that his mother had kept in a rainy day fund, she reportedly said, "You can’t take this, I need this money so I can sleep at night and know you’re good."
Even though it meant so much to Jimmy's mom, he admitted that the $10,000 didn't register in his brain because a 21-year-old him thought, "Why would we save money we can make better videos?"
Despite her valiant efforts, MrBeast eventually persuaded his mom to let him put the money into his videos, and the rest is history.
The replies largely turned on MrBeast, with many noting that he makes it sound like his mom's efforts went underappreciated. While we're sure this isn't the case, one critic wrote: "Guy literally saw his mum crying and instead of leaving the money there and saying thanks, he convinced her to hand it over to make videos."
Another complained: "His mum built an emergency fund, he saw a production budget. 👌."
A third concluded: "Your mother really did a heartwarming thing for you and all you think about is creating video?? Personally, no matter how much money you have or how lucky you got with money, it’s always better to have that backup. I’m really heartbroken for his mother."
As a video from 2017 shows him giving her a check for $100,000, at least he's paid her back...and then some.