MrBeast is becoming a shark.
The YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is joining the cast of ABC‘s reality program Shark Tank, where he will be a guest shark for season 18, which will debut in the fall.
Donaldson will be a shark alongside Beast Industries CEO Jeffrey Housenbold, and joins a starry group of guest sharks for the new season. Other guest sharks will include actress and writer Mindy Kaling, former NFL star J.J. Watt, Diary of a CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett, and Sara and Erin Foster, the co-founders of Favorite Daughter and the inspiration for the series Nobody Wants This.
The guest sharks will join the roster of permanent sharks on the program, which include Barbara Corcoran; Lori Greiner; Robert Herjavec; Daymond John; Daniel Lubetzky; Kevin O’Leary; Kendra Scott; and Rashaun Williams.
Shark Tank has become one of the most enduring reality shows on broadcast TV, and by far the most successful business program. The show sees entrepreneurs and investors pitch the sharks on investing in their product or business, often sparking real deals, like the Ring camera, which ultimately sold to Amazon for $1 billion.
The show has always leaned on its sharks to help tell the story, with former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban perhaps the most famous of them all (at least until O’Leary’s starring role in Marty Supreme). Cuban left the show last year, telling The Hollywood Reporter that, “I just want to have a couple summers with my teens before they go off on their own… Nothing to do with the show. I love it. I love being on it. I love what [it] represents and how it motivates entrepreneurs around the world.”
The new selection of guest sharks are a starrier bunch than past seasons, with content creators and podcasters more present than true business executives. ABC may be betting that as with Dancing with the Stars, leaning into creators could drive buzz for the show, which debuted in 2009.
Leave a Reply