YouTube megastar MrBeast announced on Monday that his company, Beast Industries, is buying Step, a teen-focused banking app.
Step, which raised half a billion in funding and has grown to over 7 million users, offers financial services geared toward Gen Z to help them build credit, save money, and invest. The company has attracted celebrity investors like Charli D’Amelio, Will Smith, The Chainsmokers, and Stephen Curry, in addition to venture firms like General Catalyst, Coatue, and the payments company Stripe.
If the company wants to continue getting its fintech product in front of young eyes, then partnering with Gen Z phenom MrBeast is wise. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the most-subscribed creator on YouTube, with over 466 million subscribers, but his ambitions stretch beyond his over-the-top videos.
“Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up,” the twenty-seven-year-old said. “I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had.”
This acquisition makes sense, considering that a leaked pitch document from last year showed that this was an area of interest for Beast Industries. The company is also reportedly interested in launching a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), a lower-cost cell phone plan similar to Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile.
In line with other top creators, Beast Industries’ business is much more than YouTube ad revenue. (In fact, the company reinvests much of that money back into the content.) The company’s cash cow is the chocolate brand Feastables, which is more profitable than both the MrBeast YouTube channel and the Prime Video show “Beast Games,” according to leaked documents reported on by Bloomberg. Other of his ventures, like Lunchly and MrBeast Burger, have struggled.
“We’re excited about how this acquisition is going to amplify our platform and bring more groundbreaking products to Step customers,” Step founder and CEO CJ MacDonald said in a statement.
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