Could MrBeast IPO? His CEO wants fans to have ‘a chance to be owners of the company’

Summary

Is it time for MrBeast to hit the New York Stock Exchange? Three years ago, the idea of a YouTuber with a $1.5 billion valuation left some onlookers incredulous — but Beast Industries ended up raising at a $5 billion valuation last year. Now we’re asking a bigger question: Would you buy stock in a 27-year-old named Jimmy? It’s getting to the point where even if you don’t have a child under the age of 15, you should know who MrBeast is. The North Carolinian Jimmy Donaldson’s MrBeast channel has over 450 million YouTube subscribers — more than any other YouTube channel — making him arguably the most successful social media star ever. So it made sense when at the DealBook Summit, reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin asked MrBeast and Jeff Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, about going public. “You want to have an IPO at some point, I imagine,” said Sorkin. “At some point, we want to be able to give the 1.4 billion unique people around the world who has watched Jimmy’s content the last 90 days a chance to be owners of the company,” Housebold replied. Sounds pretty much like a yes, as we can’t imagine another practical way to give ownership stakes to over a billion people. Like other major creators, the MrBeast business expands far beyond YouTube ad revenue and into a company called Beast Industries. Its biggest moneymaker is Feastables chocolate, which is more profitable than both the MrBeast YouTube channel and the Prime Video show “Beast Games,” according to leaked documents reported on by Bloomberg. Housenbold also mentioned that Beast Industries plans to build a two-sided marketplace for creators and marketers to work together (this idea has been explored by many creator economy startups already). Plus, the company is planning to launch a phone company, a financial services platform, and a theme park in Saudi Arabia. Sure, why not! Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 Donaldson’s business has had its share of stumbles, though. Beast Industries is in an ongo...