- MrBeast buys Step to teach teens how to save, spend, and invest
- Step offers a Visa card and basic banking without monthly fees
- The acquisition gives Beast Industries a fintech team and seven million users
Beast Industries has confirmed the acquisition of Step, a youth-focused financial planning app, adding a regulated money product to its expanding list of business ventures.
Beast Industries, controlled by Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, the world’s largest YouTuber by subscriber count, appears to be extending its activities beyond entertainment and media into financial services.
The deal follows a year of fundraising by Beast Industries, including a $200 million investment from Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a company closely tied to cryptocurrency markets through its Ether holdings.
What Step actually does
Step was founded in 2018 by fintech veterans CJ MacDonald and Alexey Kalinichenko, with an emphasis on financial literacy for younger users.
The platform is not a licensed bank, instead relying on a partnership with Evolve Bank & Trust for regulated banking services established in 2022.
Step offers a Visa card alongside tools for saving, spending, sending money, and basic investing, without monthly fees.
Backing from Stripe and major venture capital firms gives the app credibility within fintech circles, independent of its new ownership.
Beast Industries says Step has more than seven million users and an internal fintech team that aligns with its digital reach and charitable ambitions.
The company already runs Feastables, Beast Philanthropy, and Beast Games, all tied closely to Donaldson’s enormous online presence, with over 450 million subscribers and billions of monthly views as of early 2026.
From a distribution standpoint, exposure to a young audience is not a problem. The logic suggests that financial tools could scale quickly through that existing reach.
In a statement on Monday to millions of his fans, Mr. Beast explained the reasons behind his acquisition and his goal of helping young people build financial skills.
“Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up. That’s exactly why we’re joining forces with Step,” MrBeast said.
“I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had. Lots to share soon.”
Although this statement gives some explanation, it does not fully answer why a global entertainment brand should mediate financial behavior for millions of young users.
Step is marketed as a way to build credit and money habits early, which sounds straightforward but carries regulatory, ethical, and trust implications.
“This acquisition positions us to meet our audiences where they are, with practical, technology-driven solutions that can transform their financial futures for the better,” Jeff Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, said in a statement.
The app will operate under Beast Industries, effectively tying personal finance to a creator-led brand.
As of the time of writing, there is no information about how much was paid for the app, and no timeline was provided for operational changes following the acquisition.
Via CNBC
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