MrBeast says he doesn't have a healthy work-life balance and juggles 15+ hour days
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
- Top YouTuber MrBeast said he rarely worked less than 15 hours a day during "Beast Games" production.
- The content creator said he does "not have a healthy work life balance."
- MrBeast is looking to grow his team by 50%, his company's CEO recently said.
MrBeast has hired hundreds of employees since starting his namesake YouTube channel in his bedroom, but that doesn't mean he's cut back on his workload.
"It was a miracle if a day was less than 15 hours for me," he said of his work schedule when his team was making his Amazon show "Beast Games."
The YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, recently lifted the curtain on his jam-packed agenda. In a video with creator Jon Youshaei, Donaldson said he works nearly non-stop in a schedule that's "literally planned down to the minute."
"Everything has to be perfect because I don't have much time," he said.
Donaldson gave the example of his YouTube thumbnails. Donaldson has a body double who, in the video, said he was working "nine to five, Monday to Friday," blocking out potential thumbnails for Donaldson.
That means when Donaldson is ready to shoot the thumbnail, his team can execute it quickly.
Donaldson seems to have no complaints about his workload and later in the video said he had no plans to slow down. Still, said his schedule is "not really a fair comparison for most people."
"I live to work and 100% do not have a healthy work life balance," he wrote on X.
Donaldson has built a team around him to help him grow his output.
In 2024, he tapped Jeffrey Housenbold, a former Shutterfly CEO and venture capitalist, to lead his business as CEO. Beast Industries has since built a team of executives hailing from TikTok, Snap, NBCUniversal, and other companies.
Housenbold said recently on LinkedIn that Beast Industries is looking to expand its team "by 50% this year" across New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and its headquarters in Greenville, North Carolina.
MrBeast's VP of talent said on LinkedIn that the company is looking to bring on people for their creative, engineering, marketing, product, and production teams.