The friendship between billionaire Elon Musk and the wealthiest YouTuber, MrBeast, seems to be experiencing strain as the YouTuber openly critiques Musk’s decisions.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, boasts over 220 million subscribers on YouTube, thanks to his philanthropic endeavors and various business projects. Consequently, the 25-year-old YouTuber garnered the attention of billionaire Elon Musk, and the two became friends in 2019.
However, their relationship has recently become tense as Donaldson doesn’t shy away from questioning Musk’s efforts to attract major innovators to X, simultaneously criticizing some of the billionaire’s decisions.
Friendship Born from Charity Projects
In 2019, Donaldson rose to YouTube stardom and embarked on several significant philanthropic activities.
One notable project was the “TeamTrees” challenge, where he aimed to plant 20 million trees in collaboration with the Arbor Day Foundation.
This initiative raised millions of dollars and drew the attention of influential figures worldwide, such as YouTuber PewDiePie, Jeffree Star, and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. It was during this time that Donaldson caught the eye of Elon Musk.
“Sounds cool, where are these trees being planted, and what kind of trees?” Musk responded to Donaldson’s X post about the project on October 28, 2019.
As the idea unfolded, Musk responded by pledging to contribute one million trees to the project.
Since then, Donaldson and Musk have exchanged messages on X. Donaldson has often expressed his admiration for the billionaire.
In an X post, he mentioned reading “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Ashlee Vance and conveyed his
deep admiration for Musk. “I’m about to finish this book, and I want you to know that I admire you. Since I started learning about your work style and passion, I’ve been more interested in you,” MrBeast wrote on February 11, 2020.
Donaldson also voiced his support for Musk’s developments at Tesla and expressed his intent to watch Musk host “Saturday Night Live” on May 8, 2021.
