Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has hit the $1 billion mark at just 26, making him worth nearly twice as much as the Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise‘s $600 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth. The math is almost comical. Ten years ago, 17-year-old Donaldson was grinding out gaming videos on “MrBeast6000”, while Cruise was already sitting pretty on an estimated $400 million empire built from decades of box office domination.
In 2015, if you told anyone that a teenager making YouTube videos in his bedroom would outpace Tom Cruise’s Hollywood fortune within a decade, they’d probably recommend touching grass. Yet here we are. Fast-forward to 2025, and the kid who counted to 100,000 almost 8 years ago on his YouTube channel is now counting billions.
He started his journey in 2012 at age 13 with zero dollars and a dream of viral fame. A decade later, he’s proven that giving away millions can somehow make you billions (via CNW), while one of cinema’s biggest names got lapped by someone who never needed a single movie contract.
How MrBeast Built His Billion-Dollar Empire in Record Time
While most YouTubers stash their earnings, MrBeast built his fortune by following a different blueprint, spending nearly everything he made to create even bigger, wilder, and more jaw-dropping videos.
The strategy was simple but brilliant, bigger budgets mean bigger stunts, which mean more views, more revenue, and more cash to reinvest. This cycle transformed a teenage hobby into one of the most valuable creator-led empires in history.
By 2024, his snack brand Feastables had exploded, generating about $250 million in sales and more than $20 million in profit as reported by Fortune, while other ventures like MrBeast Burger, merchandise, and high-value brand deals pushed his yearly earnings into an estimated $600-$700 million range as he himself revealed to Time Magazine. Speaking about his strategy, in the same chat, he revealed,
I mean, not right now, I’m not naive; maybe one day. But right now, whatever we make, we reinvest. Each video does a couple million in ad revenue, a couple million in brand deals, I’ve reinvested everything to the point of—you could claim—stupidity, just believing that we would succeed. And it’s worked out.
His main YouTube channel alone still brings in huge numbers per day from ad revenue, and brands, deals also pay hefty amounts just for a shout-out.
But YouTube is no longer his biggest moneymaker. Donaldson is now making more from Feastables than from YouTube and his Amazon Prime reality show combined, which, by the way, Prime reportedly paid $100 million as per Business Insider. He’s also in talks for a major funding round that could value his holding company at around $5 billion, as reported by The Guardian. Thus, MrBeast has not only created a brand but a mammoth bank balance while at it.
How Hollywood’s Last Movie Star, Tom Cruise, Made Money in the Last Decade!
While the YouTube star was speed-running his way to billionaire status with YouTube stunts, Tom Cruise was quietly pulling the ultimate long con to amass a jaw-dropping $600 million fortune in 2025.
That’s a whopping $200 million leap from his estimated $400 million base in 2015. Cruise’s biggest secret weapon was undoubtedly The Mission: Impossible franchise. Across all Ethan Hunt outings, he’s pocketed at least $400 million, as estimated by The Richest.
Moreover, in 2022, Top Gun: Maverick broke Cruise’s personal payday record. He banked an estimated $12-14 million upfront, then pulled in a staggering $100 million total after backend profits, as per Forbes, as the film soared to nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.
2025’s Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning is another cash cow, with producer credits and profit-sharing padding Cruise’s wallet and locking in his title as Hollywood’s highest-paid action star.
Beyond movies, Cruise has also built an impressive real estate empire, with luxury digs in Beverly Hills, Colorado, and Florida. With his films collectively grossing over $13.3 billion worldwide, Cruise proves people don’t need viral giveaways to get rich, just decades of box office domination is just enough. The Hollywood route may be slower than MrBeast’s, but it’s still pure blockbuster gold.
Here’s a year-by-year comparison of the two stars’ net worth:
| Year | MrBeast Net Worth (estimated) | Tom Cruise Net Worth (estimated) |
| 2015 | just starting out | $400 million (approx) |
| 2016 | $1-2 million (approx) | $420 million (approx) |
| 2017 | $3-5 million (approx) | $450 million (approx) |
| 2018 | $8-12 million (approx) | $480 million (approx) |
| 2019 | $16-24 million (approx) | $500 million (approx) |
| 2020 | $25-40 million (approx) | $520 million (approx) |
| 2021 | $50-70 million (approx) | $540 million (approx) |
| 2022 | $100-150 million (approx) | $580 million (approx) |
| 2023 | $223 million | $590 million (approx) |
| 2024 | $700 million | $600 million |
| 2025 | $1 billion | $600 million |
What do you think of MrBeast nearly doubling Tom Cruise’s fortune in 10 years? Share your thoughts in the comments!
