YouTuber MrBeast made over $263,000 from first X video

YouTube sensation MrBeast said he made over $263,000 from a single post on X — but added that it’s a “bit of a facade” and that others would have a hard time raking in such profits on the Elon Musk-owned platform.

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, posted a video to X last week titled “$1 vs $100,000,000 Car!” to see how his earnings from X compared to those from YouTube.

In the nearly 20-minute feature, Donaldson test drives more than $250 million worth of cars, from a $1 “rust bucket” to a $500,000 “boat car” and a $20 million McLaren F1, which he took for a spin with the car’s owner, Jay Leno.

One week after Donaldson posted the video to X, he shared a screenshot of the post’s activity with his 27 million-plus followers, showing that it amassed nearly 160 million impressions, or views and over 5 million engagements, which includes interactions such as “likes” and comments.

The image also showed the video’s revenue: an impressive $263,655.

“But it’s a bit of a facade,” Donaldson captioned the image. “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.”

The 25-year-old internet sensation posted the same video to YouTube, where he boasts a staggering 234 million subscribers, back in September.

On the Google-owned platform, “$1 vs $100,000,000 Car!” has racked up more than 216 million views, though it’s unclear how much Donaldson made from the YouTube video.

For reference, YouTube creators eligible for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) – which requires a certain number of subscribers, uploads and views – can earn between $3,400 and $30,000 per 1 million video views, according to Yahoo Finance.

Meanwhile, posts on X generate money through engagement and advertising revenue for those with verified accounts via the premium subscription option, per X’s Help Center.

To be eligible for ad-revenue sharing on X, creators also have to have at least 5 million organic impressions on cumulative posts within the last three months, and have at least 500 followers.

Donaldson, who’s become known for giving away millions of dollars to his fans, followed up with a subsequent X post Monday afternoon saying: “I’m gonna give 10 random people that repost this and follow me $25,000 for fun (the $250,000 my X video made).”

The winners will be picked Thursday afternoon, he said.

Earlier this month, he told Musk — who’s been working to make X the “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat, which combines instant messaging, social media, long-form video content and video conferencing, among other features — that X wouldn’t generate “a fraction” of the money he earns from YouTube.

Donaldson’s earnings are the highest of any social media creator, Forbes reported.

When he was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2023, the outlet said he earned an annual income of $54 million the year prior – $32 million of which from ads alone, plus $9 million in sponsored content.