The list of likely TikTok saviors in the United States continues to grow. And one of the latest to have stamped his name on it has been one of the greatest content creators that exist: the American Jimmy Donaldson, better known, much better known, as MrBeast. The man of record on YouTube, where he has more followers than anyone else has ever had, 346 million, has joined forces with a group of investors to make an offer to take ownership of the video application. Donaldson himself had already expressed on several occasions and in different media that he intended to “save” the social network from being banned in the United States.
“I am currently on a private jet and about to make an offer for this platform (TikTok) and I could become its new CEO,” said the creator in a video uploaded to his account on the Chinese social network just a day ago. He then states that he wishes he could “reveal more details about the offer” he has made with other businessmen, but for the moment, he says “I can’t”: “I just know it will be incredible.”
According to the law firm that represents the group of potential buyers of which Mr.Beast is part, the group would not be led by the ‘youtuber’, but by Jesse Tinsley, founder and CEO of Employer.com. As this executive shared, he was in Washington DC last Monday discussing his plan to acquire the Chinese social network with Donald Trump’s team. “Our offering represents a win-win solution that preserves this vital platform (TikTok), while addressing legitimate national security concerns,” Tinsley noted in a recent release.
Giving away money and burying yourself alive
At the moment, the amount that this group of investors has made to tempt ByteDance to sell the jewel in its crown is unknown. Nor has the amount with which MrBeast collaborates in the attempt been revealed; What there is no doubt is that the movement matches the way of acting of the content creator, who has been fond of this part for some time to use philanthropy to generate content with which to entertain Internet users.
Among his great successes on the Google video site, you can find him building wells in Africa, distributing a million dollars to the needy or adopting all the dogs from an animal shelter. But he is also quite fond of extravagant and extremely long challenges, which are the ones with which he really began to stand out on YouTube around 2016. Since that year, he has hired a murderer to try to kill him, he has put a Lamborghini in a press hydraulics, he has spent a week buried alive, another stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean and another on a desert island. And so on until the end. And all with a recording and editing of 10 that most television programs would like.
Evidently, Donaldson’s first videos on YouTube, which date back to 2012, when he was just 13 years old, were much less effective. They consisted of short ‘gameplays’ in which you could see him playing games like ‘Minecraft’ or ‘Call of Duty’, something that, at the time, other content creators who ended up becoming internet stars, such as the Spanish ElRubius.
Lawsuits and disputes
MrBeast has also taken advantage of his online experience to do business off-screen. It has its own line of chocolate bars, and in 2020 it launched an online burger brand called MrBeast Burger, which is available in some cities in Spain. Last 2023, the ‘youtuber’ sued the company responsible for the operation of this business, Virtual Dining Concepts, alleging that the food it was serving to customers was “inedible” and that it was not passing the necessary quality controls.
More recently, the creator premiered his own show on the streaming platform Amazon Prime Video, which is currently sweeping in popularity. Is called ‘Beast Games‘ and during its development a thousand contestants face physical challenges to win a prize of five million dollars. Something very similar to the viral challenges that Donaldson has been exploiting for years on his YouTube channel. Be that as it may, five of the participants sued the ‘influencer’ last summer, accusing his production company of having suffered sexual harassment, emotional damage and misleading advertising during the recording.
And this is not the only scandal that the ‘youtuber’ has had to face. Some of his videos, such as the one in which he builds wells in Africa or others in which he pays for operations to people with vision or hearing problems, have been strongly criticized online. Many Internet users believe that Donaldson actually exploits the people he claims to help for philanthropic purposes. Because, in the end, the creator continues to benefit financially through the visits he receives on his channel thanks to this type of content.
Rich enough to buy TikTok?
MrBeast is a millionaire, there is no doubt about that. According to ‘Afp’, his assets are around 700 million euros. And that is money, a lot of money. But not nearly enough to buy TikTok or become its main owner. At the moment, the amount that the ‘youtuber’ and the group of investors of which he is a part have put on the table to acquire the application is unknown, but it is unlikely that ByteDance is willing to give up its main asset for less than several tens of billions of dollars. Or by hundreds of billions.
Currently in the race are other entrepreneurs who, on paper, could be better placed to take over TikTok. This list includes Elon Musk. According to ‘Bloomberg’, the Chinese government would not prevent the South African tycoon from taking control of the application, and Donald Trump, the new president of the United States, does not see a problem with it either. The founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison, who is the fourth richest person in the world, would also be a good buyer for the North American leader. His company already tried to take over TikTok in 2020.
Report a bug
#spending #week #buried #hiring #murderer #MrBeast #king #YouTubers #buy #TikTok