2021–present: mainstream success
On January 1, 2021, Donaldson released the "YouTube Rewind 2020, Thank God It's Over" video. In Donaldson's video, he explains that he had always believed that YouTubers "should get more say in Rewind", and with this in mind, he decided to call "hundreds of YouTubers". At the end of the video, Donaldson gives a shout-out to PewDiePie, citing him and his 2018 Rewind as the inspiration for Donaldson's Rewind. Donaldson signed a Facebook and Snapchat content distribution deal with Jellysmack a month later.
During a Clubhouse room in February 2021, Donaldson removed entrepreneur Farokh Sarmad after he allegedly said he could not pronounce his name, a move that Sarmad later said was racist. Sarmad's claims were questioned and denied by other Clubhouse users, who were present at the call and argued against Sarmad's claims, claiming that Donaldson removed him and others to make room for women to be more inclusive.
In April 2021, Donaldson announced a sponsorship with mobile banking app Current, marking the first time he took an ownership stake as part of a sponsorship deal. Donaldson stated he struck the deal with Current's SVP of Marketing Adam Hadi, who worked with Donaldson on his first brand deal with Quidd in 2017.
In November 2021, Donaldson uploaded "$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!", a recreation of the survival drama streaming television series Squid Game in real life. The video had 456 people compete for a $456,000 cash prize. It was one of the most-watched YouTube videos of 2021, receiving over 130 million views within a week. A review of the video in Vice argued that it "badly misunderstood the anti-capitalist message of Squid Game". Despite this, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has reacted positively to the recreations and parodies of the series.
In December 2021, Donaldson created a third influencer tournament featuring 15 competitors with a grand prize of $1 million. In January 2022, Forbes ranked Donaldson as YouTube's highest-earning creator, earning an estimated $54 million in 2021. Forbes stated that his income in 2021 would have placed him 40th in the 2020 Forbes Celebrity 100, earning as much money as Vin Diesel and Lewis Hamilton did in 2020.
On July 28, 2022, Donaldson surpassed 100 million subscribers on his main channel, making him the fifth channel and the second individual YouTuber to achieve the milestone. On November 17, 2022, Donaldson achieved the Guinness World Record of "Most Subscribers for an Individual Male on YouTube" with his MrBeast channel at 112 million subscribers. The previous record holder, PewDiePie, had held the record as the most subscribed YouTuber for almost ten years. Donaldson achieved one billion video views over 30 days on his main YouTube channel in November 2022. On October 15, 2023, Donaldson surpassed 200 million subscribers. His YouTube Shorts video "Would You Fly to Paris for a Baguette?" is the most-watched video on his main YouTube channel, having more than 1.5 billion views and 56 million likes as of May 2025.
On June 2, 2024, Donaldson surpassed India-based music label and film production company T-Series for the title of the most subscribed channel on YouTube, with 267 million. On July 10, 2024, Donaldson became the first YouTuber to surpass 300 million subscribers. On July 13, 2024, Donaldson uploaded his 300 million subscribers special, "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000". The video featured guest appearances from Howie Mandel, Miranda Cosgrove, and Joey Chestnut. The video accumulated 71 million views in its first 24 hours, becoming Donaldson's most-viewed video in that timeframe. In his video "Beat Ronaldo, Win $1,000,000", Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Brady, and Bryson DeChambeau made guest appearances. On April 25, 2025, Donaldson and Uruguayan YouTuber Fede Vigevani hosted an influencer basketball game featuring a team of Spanish-speaking creators and a team of English-speaking creators. Neymar, Stephen Curry, and Serena Williams made guest appearances in the video "Beat Neymar, Win $500,000". On June 1, 2025, Donaldson became the first YouTuber to surpass 400 million subscribers. On January 2026, Beast Industries raised $200 million from Bitmine at a $5 billion valuation. On June 12, 2026, Donaldson became the first creator to reach 500 million YouTube subscribers, marking the milestone with a live stream countdown. Over 600,000 people watched the live stream.
