Beast Industries.
The world's top YouTuber, MrBeast, is beefing up his team, adding four new executives since September to drive up brand deals, recruit more creatives, and expand his production work.
Among the new hires are:
- Noah Wieseneck, the company's new VP of brand partnerships
- Byron Kendal, its VP of talent acquisition and technology
- Kelly Calabrese, a VP of global media and brand partnerships
- Former NBCU unscripted executive Corie Henson, who joined as president of the company's studio division
Wieseneck is joining Beast Industries from the Snapchat-maker Snap, where he worked on creator business deals. Calabrese previously headed up media and entertainment sales at TikTok.
The march of new hires with big media pedigrees reflects the MrBeast team's ambition to build a Disney-style entertainment colossus. The company, which raised money earlier this year at a $5 billion valuation, has been pushing to turn its media properties profitable. Staffing up in areas like brand partnerships could help it hit its goals more quickly.
Luring professionals away from traditional media and tech has likely become easier as the tech job market dips and some jobs in Hollywood disappear.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the most followed YouTuber, having transformed a single YouTube channel into a full-blown media empire with over 400 million subscribers, an Amazon Prime Video show, and about $224 million in 2024 media revenue, according to a leaked investor deck from early 2025 viewed by Business Insider.
The MrBeast team now operates in a variety of business lines outside media, including its chocolate brand Feastables. The company is also exploring other ventures like fintech, according to a recent US trademark filing and investor materials.
Many of MrBeast's roughly 450 employees work out of his headquarters in Greenville, North Carolina, though some, like staff at Feastables, work elsewhere. For some hires, Donaldson starts with a 90-day probationary period to screen for culture fit, known internally as a "vibe check."
Beast Industries CEO Jeffrey Housenbold, who joined the team last year, has been on a push this year to professionalize the company and cut down on spending.
"My goal is to make everything we do profitable," Housenbold told Business Insider in August. "In the past, it was just about ideas and the quality of the content. I'm moving the organization to produce great content that is also on time and on budget."
Kendal, Wieseneck, and Calabrese did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for MrBeast declined to comment.
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