- Last year, Forbes ranked MrBeast as YouTube's highest-earning creator.
- But the YouTuber, whose name is Jimmy Donaldson, still lives in his neighborhood in North Carolina.
MrBeast, the most-subscribed YouTuber in the world, lives in a modest home and has been buying up the surrounding area for his family, friends, and employees, the New York Post reported.
The YouTube star, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has over the years purchased five homes near Greenville, North Carolina, the area where he grew up, the Post reported.
The suburban brick homes are centered around a cul-de-sac. They were not listed and were bought off-market, the Post reported.
Aaron Bowden, who sold his home in the area to Donaldson last year, told the Post that the YouTube star had informed him that he planned to move his childhood friends-turned-employees and family into each of the homes.
It is unclear who lives in the homes, but Donaldson has been living close to his childhood friends for years, Insider's Tanya Chen, Geoff Weiss, and Amanda Perelli previously reported. The friends — including Chris Tyson and Chandler Hallow — work for him and frequently appear in his videos.
Donaldson bought his four-bedroom, four-bathroom, two-story house in the area in 2018 for around $320,000, according to records obtained by the Post.
It spans about 3,000 square feet and comes complete with a breakfast bar, whirlpool bath, and a basketball court.
Donaldson also has a huge warehouse studio where he creates most of his videos, according to a 2022 video tour by the YouTuber Arun Maini, better known as Mrwhosetheboss.
The studio has a small apartment where Donaldson said he lived "for the most part." It includes a kitchenette, a desk, and an exercise area.
The YouTube star has had to beef up security because of a burglary in a previous home and no longer lists his addresses publicly, he said during an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast.
"Weirdly, I lived in a super subpar house, and I kind of learned why famous people don't live in subpar houses because someone broke in and stole everything," he told Rogan. "I had to get a nicer house for security reasons, but before I got robbed, I think my place was about $700 a month."
In January 2022, Forbes ranked Donaldson as YouTube's highest-earning creator, earning an estimated $54 million in 2021. He has more than 150 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel.