When Joe Rogan was stunned to discover Mr. Beast bought $800,000 island in Bahamas just for YouTube video

Mr. Beast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) earned his fame by gaining a reputation as someone willing to do anything for his YouTube channel views. Few examples of that were more prominent than when he admitted to Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience earlier this year that he once bought an entire island just for a video.

While he explained the process to Rogan, Donaldson also said that he used the island to hold a contest for his video. At the end of the event, the winner got to keep ownership of the island he purchased for $800,000.

Donaldson said:

"[I bought an island] because we did a video where the last to leave the island keeps it... It's somewhere in the Bahamas... [It cost] about 800 grand, then we put $100 grand into renovating it... It was huge, maybe about three football fields."

Watch Joe Rogan and Mr. Beast discuss the island (19:00):

Donaldson told the story as he was discussing how he became a YouTube star. Mr. Beast used the island anecdote as an example of how difficult the project was logistically, making his job harder than he feels most perceive it to be.

The story shocked Rogan, who could not believe that Donaldson purchased an island just to give it away to a participant in his contest for YouTube content. The YouTuber went on to explain that the winner eventually sold the island, having no other idea what to do with it.

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Mr. Beast explains casting process for his YouTube contests to Joe Rogan

After hearing the story of Mr. Beast's contest with the winning prize being an island in the Bahamas, Joe Rogan wondered how the famous YouTuber picked the contestants of his videos. Jimmy Donaldson explained that the participants of the island video specifically were acquaintances of his, but he has since hired a casting director to look over applicants who fill out a form requesting to compete.

Donaldson clarified that the most important part of the process was ensuring the contestants would be camera-friendly to keep his videos entertaining.

With an estimated net worth of $700 million, Donaldson consistently hosts ongoing contests promoted on his social media channels that routinely offer lucrative rewards.