The world’s biggest YouTube star, MrBeast, has brought his viral antics to Sydney, with a sold-out event at the Opera House forecourt.
His arrival has caused a frenzy among his fans who have scrambled for tickets, and confusion among those who have never heard of him.
Who is MrBeast?
The 26-year-old holds the record for the most subscribed channel on YouTube with 289 million followers.
He specialises in high-production videos of elaborate mental and physical challenges in which everyday people attempt to win large cash prizes.
Some of his biggest videos include a real-life recreation of Netflix’s Squid Game, being buried alive and a challenge involving sitting in a bathtub full of snakes.
He also runs a philanthropic organisation called Beast Philanthropy and videos many of his charitable acts.
Many of his videos have hundreds of millions of views, and it is estimated his channel gains 5 million subscribers each week.
Forbes magazine estimates his net worth to be about $750 million.
Rise to YouTube stardom
Born James Donaldson, MrBeast grew up mainly in Kansas and North Carolina in the US with his parents working in the military.
He began creating YouTube videos with friends after dropping out of university, eventually employing his friends as his popularity grew.
“There’s a five-year point in my life where I was just relentlessly, unhealthily obsessed with studying virality, studying the YouTube algorithm,” he told Rolling Stone in 2022.
He began posting YouTube videos as a teenager, mainly filming himself playing video games.
MrBeast had a viral breakthrough in 2017 with a video of himself counting to 100,000, and followed that up with several viral challenges and pranks.
Earlier this month, he overtook Indian music video label T-Series as the most popular YouTube channel.
The top spot had previously been held by Swedish creator PewDiePie.
MrBeast organised another one of his signature viral stunts for his Sydney audience at the Opera House forecourt this afternoon.
During his appearance Mr Beast will give away 10 cars to his fans, including a Lamborghini and a Scooby-Doo van.
He has built his YouTube channel with 289 million followers using similar giveaways and reality-show style challenges
More than 4,000 fans are estimated to be attending the event, with the winners set to feature in one of MrBeast’s YouTube videos.
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