MrBeast to Launch Membership Program Combining Philanthropy, Exclusive Content and Challenges

Beast Industries executives announced that MrBeast is planning a membership program that includes a philanthropic element, early access to content, exclusive content, and challenges for members to participate in. The news came at an invite-only breakfast for brand and ad executives on Tuesday at Penthouse 45 in Manhattan during TV upfronts week.

Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, Beast Industries CEO Jeffrey Housenbold, and Partnerships SVP Beau Avril attended the event.

Representatives from Coke, KFC, NBCUniversal, Samsung, Disney, and Lamborghini were among those present. Attendees ate Croque Madame sandwiches, mini doughnuts, and smoked salmon crostini. They mingled and took videos with Jimmy Donaldson and received Beast sweatshirts for their kids.

Three people who attended the event shared details with Business Insider, which the company confirmed. MrBeast reaches the equivalent of two Super Bowl audiences a month. Last year's Super Bowl reached an estimated 128 million viewers.

3 billion unique people interact with MrBeast content, about 15% of the global population. MrBeast would branch out into new content areas starting with food this summer and then moving to entertainment, fitness, and gaming. The company has plans for a mobile phone service that would include exclusive content.

MrBeast acquired the Step app for financial services ambitions, and Vyro is MrBeast's clipping service that gives brands access to a large creator network. "The general gist is, they're trying to get out of being in a YouTube channel," said David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, who attended the breakfast.

Bryce Adams, the US influencer lead for WPP's influencer agency, The Goat Agency, said MrBeast has so much scale and reach that, with the addition of first-party data through a membership service, the company could have the power equivalent to a social media app.

Adams compared it to Viacom back in the day. Challenges for a company like MrBeast include retaining its audience as they age and being overly reliant on the namesake founder, Adams added.