YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, who’s better known by his online moniker MrBeast has acquired financial service app Step. Donaldson is the world’s biggest YouTuber and this move marks his company’s first foray into the world of financial services.
Step — which will operate under the umbrella of Donaldson’s company, Beast Industries — is advertised as an all-in-one money app for teens and young adults to manage money. “Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up. That’s exactly why we’re joining forces with Step,” MrBeast told his millions of fans on Monday.
“I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had. Lots to share soon.” Beast Industries did not disclose the financial details about the transaction.
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Step had said in 2022 that it had raised $500 million in equity and debt from institutional investors, including General Catalyst, companies such as Stripe, and individuals like TikTok influencer Charli D’Amelio. Beast Industries has been fundraising over the past year, including a recent $200 million investment from Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency Ether and chaired by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee. Donaldson had said the company would explore “ways to further collaborate and incorporate DeFi into our upcoming financial services platform.”
Beast Industries said in a press release that Step’s over seven million users, technology platform and in-house fintech team would complement its large digital audience and philanthropic initiatives. “This acquisition positions us to meet our audiences where they are, with practical, technology-driven solutions that can transform their financial futures for the better,” Jeff Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, said in a statement.
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Beast Industries’ other ventures include Feastables, a snack brand, Beast Philanthropy, its non-profit arm, and Beast Games, its reality competition series on Amazon Prime Video. These ventures leverage Donaldson’s YouTuber branch — his channel had over 450 million subscribers and five billion monthly views across channels as of early 2026.
Donaldson has been planning to break into the fintech industry for months, according to Business Insider. He had filed a U.S. trademark application for the name “MrBeast Financial” in October 2025. The company teased launching a fintech business with services like student loans, insurance, or credit insights in an early 2025 investor pitch deck. The deck said the company would break into the industry by finding a partner who had existing infrastructure “while avoiding regulatory, credit risk, and capital requirement.”
Donaldson also mentioned that he wants to make videos about finance, such as “educating people on investing and showing them what is a Roth IRA.”