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MrBeast the banker? Spare us
The Observer
|October 26, 2025
Sarah Manavis
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What power haven't we handed to influencers? The list is rapidly dwindling.
They affect millions of people’s consumption habits, how we treat our work, relationships and health, and they are even beginning to win public office thanks to their followers.
It's hard to see what more they could touch. But we may have glimpsed where their sights are set. On 13 October, the world’s most popular YouTuber, Jimmy Donaldson — a 27-year-old American better known as MrBeast - filed a trademark application to start a banking app, MrBeast Financial, which will offer cryptocurrency and investment banking as well as potentially credit cards and other financial services. Now influencers believe they can - and should — directly control our money.
It may be hard to imagine who would bank with a man whose qualifications begin and end with an ability to film stunts. (Recent videos from Donaldson’s channel include 100 Kids Vs World's Strongest Man!; Survive 30 Days Chained To Your Ex, Win $250,000; and I Survived 100 Hours In An Ancient Temple).
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