Mr. Beast dethrones T‑Series as the top YouTube channel

We often refer to Jimmy Donaldson, "Mr. Beast," as the "most popular YouTuber." Until June 2, this phrase was somewhat of a mental shortcut—Mr. Beast is the largest individual creator on YouTube. In fact, since 2019, the Indian company T-Series has had the highest number of subscribers on the platform.

As reported by various sources, including the popular X profile Dexerto, on June 2, Mr. Beast surpassed T-Series in the number of followers for the first time. He has 266 million and 720 thousand subscribers, 10 thousand more than the T-Series channel. Dexerto added, "After T-Series took the subscriber crown from PewDiePie in 2019, MrBeast has steadily been on the chase. The 26-year-old vowed to get revenge for the Swedish YouTuber."

T-Series is the largest Indian music label and production company, having existed since 1983. It is known for soundtracks for Bollywood blockbusters and Indian indie-pop music. In the comments reacting to Mr. Beast's success, quite a few overtly racist voices celebrated "America's" victory. However, some commentators emphasized the aspect of an individual creator surpassing a large corporation. They argued, "YouTube belongs to creators, and a big company should not be its face."

Nostalgia also appeared in the comments. One user wrote, "I remember watching this guy posting videos mocking kids from his dorm. Oh, how times have changed." Jimmy Donaldson, who recently turned 26, started posting on YouTube in 2012 as a thirteen-year-old.

The recent surge in followers on Donaldson's channel may be related to the YouTuber's announcement of applications for Beast Games. This is the "largest game show in the world" organized in collaboration with Amazon Prime. The main prize is $5 million, and the competition itself is set to begin filming this summer.