How MrBeast Became the Willy Wonka of YouTube

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has become a sensation on YouTube for ostentatious and sometimes absurd acts of altruism.

Today, Max Read, a journalist and contributor to The Times, discusses what the rise of one of YouTube’s most popular star tells us about the platform and its users.

Max Read is a contributor to The New York Times Magazine and writes about technology and internet culture in his newsletter “Read Max.”

Background reading:

• Why do so many people think Mr. Donaldson is evil?
• MrBeast is out to become the Elon Musk of online creators.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.