Jimmy Donaldson, known online as MrBeast, has become the first individual creator to reach 500 million subscribers on YouTube. The platform confirmed the milestone on its official blog, noting that no individual creator had ever before reached half a billion subscribers on the platform.

Donaldson first became the most-subscribed individual creator on YouTube in November 2022, then surpassed all channels to become the platform’s most-subscribed overall in June 2024. His channel added 117 million subscribers in 2025, the largest single-year subscriber gain in YouTube history, according to data published by fan-run analytics account MrBeast Statistics. That figure outpaced the second-fastest-growing YouTube channel in 2025 by 67 million subscribers.

Source: Streams Charts

A sustained advertising campaign run by CreatorGlobal, Donaldson’s multi-language audio dubbing company, contributed to the channel’s 2025 subscriber growth. The campaign ran 428 ads across the year through Google’s Ad Transparency Center, with India accounting for roughly 40% of all ads and Indonesia and Vietnam together comprising approximately 40%. 

India alone added 47 million MrBeast subscribers in 2025, a figure YouTube cited in its “2025 Global Culture and Trends Report” that the MrBeast Statistics analysis noted exceeded T-Series’s subscriber gains during its own best year. Indian subscribers now represent more than 10% of Donaldson’s total subscriber base.

Platform Position and Audience

YouTube’s blog highlighted MrBeast’s “$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!” video, which is approaching one billion views, and his April 2026 livestreamed competition “50 Streamers Fight for $1,000,000” as benchmarks in the channel’s development. Approximately 40% of his audience falls between the ages of 13 and 17, with another 20% between 18 and 24.

Donaldson has also tied subscriber growth to charitable fundraising. His #TeamTrees campaign raised more than $25 million to plant over 25 million trees, followed by #TeamSeas, which raised more than $30 million to remove trash from beaches, rivers, and the ocean. 

In 2025, his #TeamWater campaign raised $40 million for WaterAid, drawing participation from creators across 115 countries.