Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has spent the last decade rising to the top of online content. Today one of the most popular creators in the world, he has a record 476 million subscribers on YouTube alone — driven by increasingly extreme challenges, ranging from spending a week living in a cave to being buried in a coffin.
But building one of the largest multibillion-dollar entertainment businesses to emerge from social media took a toll on his time. “I live to work and 100% do not have a healthy work-life balance,” Donaldson wrote on X, after a docuseries titled How MrBeast Works 18 Hour Days was released and people commented on the lack of balance.
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“It was a miracle when a workday was less than 15 hours,” Donaldson said in the docuseries, adding that his schedule is “literally planned minute by minute.”
While filming the second season of his Amazon Prime competition series Beast Games, Donaldson was also regularly producing his high-budget YouTube videos, which frequently rack up more than 100 million views.
He cited the videos’ cover images as an example of the precision of the operation: Donaldson uses a stunt double to help set up and test concepts, allowing him to appear briefly only in the final recording before moving on to the next task.
“Everything has to be perfect because I don’t have much time,” he said.
While not every day is as intense for Donaldson as the Beast Games shoot, his pace reflects a broader ambition: He’s not just making videos — he’s building an entertainment empire under Beast Industries, which he says he hopes will one day rival Disney.
This expansion now goes beyond content and into areas such as financial services and telecommunications, further increasing the demands on your time.
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To support this growth, Beast Industries is rapidly expanding its operations.
CEO Jeff Housenbold, a Silicon Valley veteran who joined the company in 2024, said the company plans to increase its workforce by 50%, including positions in New York, Los Angeles and at its headquarters in Greenville, North Carolina — Donaldson’s hometown.
Hiring is concentrated in areas such as marketing, engineering and consumer products.
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A vacancy, for example, for a recruiter in New York, is advertised with a total remuneration package of between US$130,000 and US$160,000, in addition to equity participation.
The company also offers relocation support, including company-provided housing for the first 90 days, and, notably, does not require a college degree for most positions.
But despite having built a business valued at $5 billion, Donaldson said that doesn’t translate into money in his pocket.
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“I’m in the negative right now; I’m borrowing money,” Donaldson told the Wall Street Journal in a video released earlier this year. “Technically, everyone watching this video has more money in their bank account than I do if you discount the value of my stake in my company, which doesn’t even buy me a McDonald’s in the morning.”
This trade-off highlights how deeply Donaldson continues to reinvest in his business — both financially and with his time.
“I wake up and just work… I get so busy working that I don’t even think about my personal account much,” Donaldson added. “I’m completely focused on making the best videos possible and building the biggest business possible.”
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Donaldson’s team declined Fortune’s request for comment.
Work-life balance is a trade-off, leaders say
Donaldson is far from alone in suggesting that success at the highest levels may require total dedication to one’s work. Countless business leaders have spoken about periods of intense sacrifice in their careers.
Mark Cuban is a clear example. He stated that work-life balance is unrealistic for anyone seeking out-of-the-ordinary success.
“There is no balance,” Cuban said in The Playbook, a Sports Illustrated series. “If you want to work nine to five, you can have work-life balance. If you want to master the game, whatever your game is, there’s someone working 24 hours a day to outdo you.”
But others argue that this approach is not always sustainable. Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, for example, said that throughout his career he has made work-life balance a priority.
“For more than 30 years, I had a strict limit on Tuesdays. Rain or shine, I would go out at exactly 5pm and spend the night with my best friend,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post in 2023 that was circulated again on social media. “We went to the movies, had dinner or just walked around window shopping downtown.”
Even JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon — known for his high standards and encouraging a return to the office — emphasized the importance of balance. Speaking to students at Georgetown University in 2024, he said: “What we tell our people at JPMorgan is you need to take care of your mind, your body, your spirit, your soul, your friends, your health. You really do.”
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