YouTube star 'MrBeast' buys youth-focussed banking app

MrBeast, the world's most popular YouTuber, has purchased a Gen Z-focussed banking app, he said Monday, marking another addition to his sprawling business interests.

The online star, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, announced on social media that his company Beast Industries acquired Step, a financial services platform.

"Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up," the 27-year-old said. "I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had."

Though it offers credit and debit cards, and interest-bearing accounts, Step is technically not a bank, but rather a financial services platform backed by Evolve Bank & Trust.

It was not revealed how much the purchase cost. Step and Beast industries did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

MrBeast boasts more than 450 million YouTube subscribers -- the most in the world -- with his channel specialising in absurd contests and globe-trotting philanthropic ventures.

Videos can cost millions of dollars to produce, with a team of around 300 people.

He has spun that success into a television game show on Amazon Prime Video, as well as a pop-up amusement park in Saudi Arabia dubbed Beast Land.

His snack brand, Feastables, meanwhile rakes in hundreds of millions in sales, rivalling the revenue from the YouTube videos that first made him famous.

"We're excited about how this acquisition is going to amplify our platform and bring more groundbreaking products to Step customers," Step CEO and founder CJ MacDonald said in a statement.

The contestants on MrBeast's videos could perhaps benefit from Step's goal of teaching financial literacy.

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