The loudest voice on YouTube rejected Elon Musk’s proposal to post his videos on X.
Last week Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by MrBeast online, uploaded his newest video on YouTube and promoted it on X with a post. DogeDesigner, an X promoter and fan of Mr. Musk, responded by asking MrBeast to also post the video on X.
The post attracted Mr. Musk, who replied simply with “Yeah.”
“My videos cost millions to make, and even if they got a billion views on X it wouldn’t fund a fraction of it,” MrBeast wrote, replying to the X owner. “I’m down though to test stuff once monetization is really cranking!”
MrBeast is YouTube’s biggest star, with over 225 million subscribers on his main channel alone. His most recent video, which featured MrBeast surviving seven days in solitary confinement, racked up over 75 million views in three days. He is also one of YouTube’s most profitable personalities, making an estimated $82 million for himself in 2023.
The rejection comes as Mr. Musk continues his efforts to attract exclusive creators to X. His goal is to bring big names to the platform to differentiate it from competitors. The plan doesn’t seem to be panning out exactly, with the biggest exclusive voice, Tucker Carlson, sharing videos on his own website.
According to X CEO Linda Yaccarino, the company paid out around $20 million in 2023 to big creators. While that is certainly more than what Twitter paid users before changing its name, the question is whether regular creators can make a living on X.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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