MrBeast's Vegas hotel fail justifies his new business strategy (2025)

MrBeast was caught up in another embarrassing incident with a partner. It shows why he's trying to bring more operations in-house.

The YouTube megastar partnered with Resorts World Las Vegas to offer a three-night "MrBeast Experience" at its hotel from April 13 to April 15.

The event promised an immersive experience, including games, exclusive merch and menu items, and a chance to win $10,000.

But some fans said the experience didn't deliver on those promises. Several attendees said in social media posts and news reports that the event lacked exclusive merch and other experiences. For example, multiple peopletold 8 News Now that the hotel told them to stay in their rooms for a mystery arrival — some waitedup to 24 hours for the surprise, which one person said was a box of chocolates.

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, responded to the backlash on X and expressed disappointment with his event partners. "This definitely isn't the experience we hoped they'd deliver. My team's already on it," he wrote on Tuesday.

He wrote that people who attended the experience would be refunded and that he'd "personally make it up to" them by flying them out for a tour of his Greenville, North Carolina studio.

"I love my fans and I'll make sure they're happy," he wrote.

Resorts World, the casino and hotel company behind the event, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

This isn't Donaldson's first partnership that missed the mark.

In 2023, he sued the business partner of his ghost kitchen, MrBeast Burger, claiming the poor quality of the food was damaging his brand.

Then, in 2024, his Lunchly meal kit collab with influencers Logan Paul and KSIfaced backlashafter customers alleged on social media that mold was found in the food kit.

These scandals involving outside partners show why MrBeast is taking steps to gain more control of his empire. He's been bringing more operations in-house, and his company is raising money to expand.

MrBeast has been growing his in-house team

Donaldson is YouTube's top star, with over 380 million followers.

In 2024, he left his management company, Night, which he had been working with since 2018. He's since brought more of his operations in-house.

He hired Jeffrey Housenbold as president of his company, Beast Industries. Housenbold has been working to help the company secure funding at a $5 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported in February.

He's been pitching Donaldson's company as the next Disney, BI reported.

"Beast Industries is the next generation diversified media, consumer product goods and services conglomerate," said a February Beast Industries pitch deck obtained by BI.

The company generated $473 million in revenue in 2024 and is forecasting revenue of nearly double that this year, according to the deck.

Moving more operations in-house doesn't mean Donaldson is done with partnerships. His Amazon show "Beast Games" is casting for season two, and he has a line of collectible minifigures in partnership with the toy manufacturer Moose Toys.

Still, his immense ambitions show he can no longer afford messy partnerships that could damage his brand, like the one that created the "MrBeast Experience." The backlash validates his strategy to regain control of his business ventures.