Featured Image Credit: BBC / Chris Unger / Contributor / Getty
MrBeast's reputation for philanthropy is pretty close to being unrivalled - while the totals he's donated might not match the likes of Bill Gates or other famous names, his reach is still huge.
From charity appeals to video challenges, he loves nothing more than giving people huge chunks of cash, and these donations are often life-changing.
That's been proven by Welsh teenager Tom Gardiner, who was reportedly able to use a donation from MrBeast back in 2021 to jump-start a successful streaming career.
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Gardiner had been streaming since 2017, and was hardly the only teenager hoping that they could grow a big enough audience to make it a genuine career option.
Things took a major turn in 2021, though, when Gardiner was streaming some Minecraft and none other than MrBeast turned up in his chat.
According to the BBC, MrBeast made an initial £700 donation and then set Gardiner a challenge - to find a buried diamond within the next minute. Gardiner told the BBC that when he succeeded in this: "He then donated another £2,000 and set me the challenge to create a portal and I was able to do that too."
The challenges continued, and by the end, Gardiner had won around £10,000 from MrBeast, a huge chunk of change.
This got way better, though, when MrBeast later released a video featuring this exchange and others in a series to show how he'd been encouraging smaller streamers with prize money.
And luckily, Gardiner was able to capitalize on this moment.
Now, a few years later, he's gone from strength to strength and told the BBC his most profitable month raked him in about £25,000 from streaming.
His earnings have reportedly been enough to let him take nice holidays, buy a car and have loads left behind for savings accounts and sensible planning.
Talking to the BBC, he said: "The whole thing really inspired me to knuckle down and work hard to try and become a YouTuber full-time. Before then, it was pocket money, something to do on the side. MrBeast’s connection didn’t give me much exposure, but it gave me the boost. And it snowballed from there."
With so many people now fighting for space on YouTube, it can sometimes feel like you don't have much of a chance at standing out.
And yet, stories like this show that it is possible to make a career out of streaming - particularly if you have a helping hand from someone like MrBeast.
