MrBeast acquires Gen Z banking app Step

MrBeast has acquired Gen Z banking app Step, adding financial services to his expanding business and extending his push to make complex tools more digestible for younger audiences.

The acquisition, announced on Monday, brings Step’s technology platform and fintech team into MrBeast’s entertainment conglomerate, Beast Industries. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Teen-focused app Step is designed to help young people manage money and build credit, offering services such as savings accounts and a Visa card that functions similarly to a debit card. Backed by venture investors, Step is not a bank and currently has more than seven million users. Its previous backers include Charli D’Amelio, Stephen Curry and Will Smith.

Announcing the news on X, Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) said the acquisition seeks to address gaps he experienced growing up.

“Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up,” he wrote. “I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had.”

Jeff Housenbold, chief executive of Beast Industries, echoed those comments in a statement.

“Financial health is fundamental to overall wellbeing, yet too many people lack access to the tools and knowledge they need to build financial security,” he said. “This acquisition positions us to meet our audiences where they are, with practical, technology-driven solutions.”

The acquisition adds to Beast Industries’ wider portfolio, which includes consumer products such as snack brand Feastables alongside its philanthropic arm, Beast Philanthropy.

Super Bowl campaign

The Step acquisition comes shortly after Donaldson’s inaugural Super Bowl advert, which also offered a public glimpse into how his business operates behind the scenes.

Created with Salesforce, the campaign is built around a puzzle challenge that invites viewers to search for clues across videos and other content released after the ad airs. In the Super Bowl ad, Donaldson is shown walking through a vault while outlining the rules, before directing viewers to a Salesforce-hosted MrBeast page to continue the challenge.

Participants submit the final code through Salesforce’s workplace platform Slack, with its bot tool Slackbot providing optional help during the challenge.

Behind-the-scenes footage released alongside the ad showed how Slack is already used within Beast Industries. The same tools are then built into the challenge for viewers taking part.

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