MrBeast teased he might “own” X, formerly Twitter, after Elon Musk responded to the YouTuber’s request for an upcoming video.
The Context
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, is the world’s richest man. According to Forbes, as of May 1, the 53-year-old has a net worth of approximately $386.5 billion.
In October 2022, Musk purchased Twitter for roughly $44 billion, and in July 2023, he changed its name to X.
MrBeast—whose real name is James “Jimmy” Donaldson—rose to fame in 2017 for posting a nearly 24-hour-long video of himself counting to 100,000. Today, he is considered one of the most influential YouTubers, largely due to his extreme challenges and over-the-top giveaways. Donaldson has 389 million subscribers on YouTube, as well as 67.8 million followers on Instagram, 115.3 million followers on TikTok and 32.5 million followers on X.
In 2022, Forbes reported Donaldson may soon be the first YouTuber billionaire, raking in approximately $54 million per year. In addition to his video content, as well as his Beast Games reality TV show on Amazon Prime Video, the 26-year-old is also an entrepreneur—boasting food brands like MrBeast Burger, Lunchly and Feastables.
What To Know
On Monday, Donaldson took to X to share his concept for new content.
“Need 100 men to test this, any volunteers?” Donaldson asked, alongside an image of him, a gorilla and a group of men with text that read: “100 Men vs a Gorilla.”
At the time of publication, his post racked up more than 49.9 million views, 611,000 likes and 38,000 comments—including a reply from Musk.
“Sure, what’s the worst that could happen?” the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) asked.
Newsweek reached out to Musk’s representative via email for comment.
Sure, what’s the worst that could happen?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2025
Musk’s post, meanwhile, garnered over 677,700 views, 16,000 likes and more than 780 comments.
After seeing his response, Donaldson posted a screenshot of his conversation with Musk from 2022, writing on April 29: “I might actually own this platform soon.”
“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowing ya,” Musk said at the time, to which Donaldson replied, “If that happens can I have Twitter?”
“Ok,” Musk said.
This isn’t the first time Donaldson teased potentially acquiring a social media platform. Earlier this year, the Kansas native offered to purchase TikTok amid threats of a ban.
“Okay fine, I’ll buy Tik Tok so it doesn’t get banned,” he said in January.
Prior to sharing his viral gorilla post, Donaldson posted a video of himself feeding a bear out of his mouth.
“New video has a grizzly bear in it lol,” he wrote on Instagram.
In the clip, a large brown bear takes what appears to be a doughnut from the internet personality.
“Wow. I didn’t die,” he said.
What People Are Saying
PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, responded to MrBeast’s volunteer request: “100 men vs. a gorilla? Maybe try 100 reasons to leave animals out of your content instead…”
What Happens Next
While both Musk and Donaldson’s X comments appeared to be tongue-in-cheek, time will tell if the YouTuber may one day own part of a social media platform.
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