And when it was time for Donaldson to appoint a CEO to help him run his sprawling empire—covering everything from his multi-million dollar video productions through to his snack company and philanthropic work—sign off from his mom was key.
Previously Donaldson, 27, had been the final point of call on all major decisions about his empire. While also being the face of his channel, which has 439 million subscribers, Donaldson was responsible for overseeing his snack and chocolate company Feastables, production of shows like Amazon’s Beast Games, and virtual restaurant business MrBeast Burger.
Enter Jeff Housenbold, who spent three decades working in Silicon Valley before being parachuted in to help run the North Carolina-based empire.
“[Donaldson] calls me and goes, ‘I was thinking, can you come back and meet my mom?’ And I was like, ‘Why?’ He’s like, ‘You should just come meet my mom.’ So I spent a couple hours with Sue. I miss my flight,” the now-President and CEO of Beast Industries recalls.
Donaldson added previously he had resisted bringing on experienced outsiders with more traditional business experience. He told Bloomberg: “I was very much bringing in younger people who thought different. The problem there is then you don’t have the experience, and you make a lot of mistakes that everyone’s made before, and it wastes time and money.”
The hiring of Housenbold frees Donaldson up to focus on what he does best: Viral content which reaches hundreds of millions of people. But while MrBeast may often be cited as an example of a career on social media gone right, he has cautioned fans that he is an exception to the rule.
