Does Elon Musk Want to Compete with YouTube?

Twitter owner Elon Musk has reportedly made an offer to MrBeast, one of the world’s most popular YouTubers. Musk, known for his bold and controversial decisions, seems keen on bringing the 25-year-old sensation onto Twitter.

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has amassed an impressive following and billions of views on YouTube. A tweet from user @TurnerNovak shows him sharing recent YouTube stats on Twitter, showcasing the success of his latest videos, revealing an average of 2.7 million views on the day of release and his most recent video at the time reaching 3.3 million. 

Novak’s tweet shows Musk allegedly responding with an invite to also post his content directly on the Twitter platform, with an offer to match Donaldson’s earnings on the Alphabet-owned YouTube.

While the authenticity of the tweets from both Donaldson and Musk has yet to be confirmed (Novak links to a Subscribers-only post from Musk), the potential offer has sparked speculation about Twitter’s plans for expansion. If the tweets are genuine, it suggests that Twitter is aiming to transform into a multi-feature app, potentially luring content creators from other platforms.

As of April, YouTube has a user base of 2.6 billion active users, second only to Facebook’s 2.9 billion. Twitter, meanwhile, has about 450 million. So even if the platform is able to match YouTube’s earnings per view, the number would still be far smaller than what Donaldson is accustomed to getting on YouTube. And considering Twitter’s recent notoriety in (not) making payments, risking splitting his views between the two platforms may not at all be beneficial. 

Musk has also tried to do this with other creators, but Donaldson may be the biggest and most-followed one to date. Donaldson currently has 166 million followers on his account on YouTube.

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