James Donaldson has shut down rumors that he sold his popular YouTube channel MrBeast to media giant The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), following weeks of speculation.
What Happened: The rumors were sparked by a joke made by The Iced Coffee Hour podcast hosts Graham Stephan and Jack Selby, who humorously suggested that MrBeast had sold his YouTube channel to Disney for $5 billion.
MrBeast, who commands a massive following of over 242 million subscribers on his primary YouTube channel, felt compelled to address the rumors after a snippet of the podcast episode resurfaced on Twitter on March 3, leading more people to believe that he had sold his channel incorrectly.
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“Disney does not own any part of my channel,” MrBeast clarified, effectively putting an end to the rumors.
The YouTube celebrity also addressed other recent “wild” conspiracy theories about him, including allegations that US politician Nancy Pelosi was manipulating him.
Despite the rumors, MrBeast continues to shatter records on YouTube and is reportedly in the process of finalizing a $100 million deal for his first TV show with Amazon Prime.
Why It Matters: The rumors of MrBeast’s channel acquisition by Disney come in the wake of a recent experiment by the YouTuber.
MrBeast had experimented with posting videos on Elon Musk’s X platform. However, the data revealed that it was more profitable for content creators to post their videos on Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube than on X.
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