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What is your opinion on Mr Beast? I just watched a video of his for the first time and he gave away over $500,000.

slillibri 4y ago
Mr Beast is a game show host. He’s not giving away his own money yet everything is framed as the giant act of generosity on his part. He’s giving away money much like Bob Barker gave away kitchen sets.
- maest 4y ago
  Honest question - how does he fund these giveaways?
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    YouTube has advertising, as his videos have sponsorship. His audience is like double the level of an episode of Friends at its peak, so I guess the slots are worth a lot.
  - onion2k 4y ago
    He made $24m in advertising and sponsorship in 2020.
  - CPLX 4y ago
    The same way Bob Barker did.
- epups 4y ago
  But he owns his channel, no? So any money not spent in giving reverts back to him.
  - tipsytoad 4y ago
    No. A sponsorship would give a clear budget, if blizzard gives him 500k for video expenses the rest would go back to blizzard, not him. Blizzard would probably require him to spend all the money though, as more money = more clicks.
- highwaylights 4y ago
  I’m stealing this comparison. It’s mine now. I came up with it.
- Graffur 4y ago
  Okay.. but it's his platform right?
TrickyRick 4y ago
Yeah to me he seems genuinely generous. Obviously there is a part of it being done to attract more viewers (Otherwise he could simply not upload the video at all) but from my, granted limited, experience of his videos a lot of the money he makes goes in to making (I.e. donating more) new videos. Very different from getting millions of TikTok views for the price of a flower bouquet.
- titzer 4y ago
  The discerning questions are: would he do this a) with his own money and b) if no one is watching? I think both are no.
  - hderms 4y ago
    Why are those questions the end all be all of the discussion? Many good things are done in the world that have a variety of motivations. He could get views in a variety of ways but the fact that he's doing it by helping people shouldn't be dismissed just because he wouldn't spend millions of dollars with no one watching. Not to suggest he's operating in any way like a non-profit, but they all receive money and then distribute that money in ways that either increase the future money they can use for their mission or directly on the mission itself. The fact that he's built a self-sustaining model for helping individuals without merely forking over his own assets is impressive.
WesleyJohnson 4y ago
Mr. Beast's driving motivation, as he's stated many times in interviews, is to make the best YouTube videos he can. He spends millions on his videos these days, all in an effort to outdo the previous one and provide the best content he can. So while he certainly does give away money in some of his videos, he films it in order to make money while doing it. I don't doubt that he's some level of generous, but his motivations are not solely benevolent. His first viral "giveaway" video was him giving a homeless person $10,000. That wasn't his money. He got a company to invest in him by giving him the money to donate (while filming it) and promised them a return on their money. It's been a business venture from the outset. That said, it doesn't really bother me. If he makes $1m dollars giving away $500k, so be it. He reinvests that money back into his business, that employs many, many people and sometime finds its way back to those in need. He's not inherently rich, he needs to make money to donate it and his means of making that money is sometimes exploiting the very act for likes, clicks and ad revenue.

Mr Beast is a game show host. He’s not giving away his own money yet everything is framed as the giant act of generosity on his part. He’s giving away money much like Bob Barker gave away kitchen sets.

maest 4y ago
Honest question - how does he fund these giveaways?
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  YouTube has advertising, as his videos have sponsorship. His audience is like double the level of an episode of Friends at its peak, so I guess the slots are worth a lot.
- onion2k 4y ago
  He made $24m in advertising and sponsorship in 2020.
- CPLX 4y ago
  The same way Bob Barker did.
epups 4y ago
But he owns his channel, no? So any money not spent in giving reverts back to him.
- tipsytoad 4y ago
  No. A sponsorship would give a clear budget, if blizzard gives him 500k for video expenses the rest would go back to blizzard, not him. Blizzard would probably require him to spend all the money though, as more money = more clicks.
highwaylights 4y ago
I’m stealing this comparison. It’s mine now. I came up with it.
Graffur 4y ago
Okay.. but it's his platform right?

TrickyRick 4y ago

Yeah to me he seems genuinely generous. Obviously there is a part of it being done to attract more viewers (Otherwise he could simply not upload the video at all) but from my, granted limited, experience of his videos a lot of the money he makes goes in to making (I.e. donating more) new videos. Very different from getting millions of TikTok views for the price of a flower bouquet.

titzer 4y ago
The discerning questions are: would he do this a) with his own money and b) if no one is watching? I think both are no.
- hderms 4y ago
  Why are those questions the end all be all of the discussion? Many good things are done in the world that have a variety of motivations. He could get views in a variety of ways but the fact that he's doing it by helping people shouldn't be dismissed just because he wouldn't spend millions of dollars with no one watching. Not to suggest he's operating in any way like a non-profit, but they all receive money and then distribute that money in ways that either increase the future money they can use for their mission or directly on the mission itself. The fact that he's built a self-sustaining model for helping individuals without merely forking over his own assets is impressive.

WesleyJohnson 4y ago

Mr. Beast's driving motivation, as he's stated many times in interviews, is to make the best YouTube videos he can. He spends millions on his videos these days, all in an effort to outdo the previous one and provide the best content he can. So while he certainly does give away money in some of his videos, he films it in order to make money while doing it. I don't doubt that he's some level of generous, but his motivations are not solely benevolent. His first viral "giveaway" video was him giving a homeless person $10,000. That wasn't his money. He got a company to invest in him by giving him the money to donate (while filming it) and promised them a return on their money. It's been a business venture from the outset. That said, it doesn't really bother me. If he makes $1m dollars giving away $500k, so be it. He reinvests that money back into his business, that employs many, many people and sometime finds its way back to those in need. He's not inherently rich, he needs to make money to donate it and his means of making that money is sometimes exploiting the very act for likes, clicks and ad revenue.