Beast Industries, the company behind YouTube star Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson, said on February 9, 2026 that it had acquired Step, a US financial app for teenagers and young adults that offers a card, savings, investing and credit-building tools.
Terms were not disclosed. Donaldson announced the deal on X, and Beast Industries said it would combine Step's app and in-house fintech team with its own audience, content operation and philanthropy work to make money tools and financial education easier to reach for young people.
Step has more than 7 million users and had raised more than $500 million, including debt, Bloomberg Government reported. The companies did not say whether the Step brand or its management would change.
What Step built
Step was co-founded by CJ MacDonald, its chief executive, and Alexey Kalinichenko. It launched its app to the public on September 30, 2020 after a waiting list that opened in 2019.
The app is aimed at users from their early teens, helping them open a first account and build a credit history before they turn 18. Its products include a Step Visa card, high-yield savings, cash-back rewards, early access to paychecks, loans and an investing platform, according to Complex.
Step is a technology company, not a bank. Its accounts are provided through Evolve Bank & Trust. KOHO, a Canadian fintech that wrote about the deal, noted that American Banker and Banking Dive had reported on regulatory scrutiny of Evolve linked to fallout from banking-as-a-service firm Synapse and to a past data breach, and said those reports did not suggest Step caused the problems.
“Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up.”
Why Beast Industries is buying
MrBeast's audience is heavily made up of Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewers, the same group Step targets, The Verge has reported. Storyboard18 reported that a leaked pitch document from 2025 had shown financial services as a focus for Beast Industries, and in late 2025 a trademark filing for "MrBeast Financial" covered banking-style and financial app services, KOHO reported.
Beast Industries chief executive Jeff Housenbold said in the company's press release that the acquisition positioned it to meet its audiences where they are, and that financial health is fundamental to overall wellbeing.
Donaldson framed the deal around his own experience. "Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up," he wrote, adding that he wanted to give millions of young people the financial foundation he never had. MacDonald said the acquisition would amplify Step's platform.
Beast Industries was valued at $5.2 billion in 2024, Bloomberg reported, according to Complex.
The founders and the funding
Step raised $22.5 million in June 2019 in a round led by Stripe, with Will Smith's Dreamers fund and rapper Nas among the participants, PYMNTS reported. In December 2020, two months after launch and with more than 500,000 users, it raised a $50 million Series B led by Coatue, with Stripe, Crosslink Capital, Collaborative Fund and Dreamers VC returning and new backers including Charli D'Amelio, Justin Timberlake, Eli Manning and The Chainsmokers' Mantis VC.
In April 2021 it raised a $100 million Series C led by General Catalyst, taking its total to more than $175 million. Coatue, Stripe, D'Amelio, Mantis VC, Dreamers VC and Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo returned, according to Crowdfund Insider, and Step said it had more than 1.5 million users.
In October 2022 Step added $300 million in debt financing led by TriplePoint Capital and Evolve Bank & Trust, bringing its total funding to $500 million, TechCrunch reported. It had nearly 4 million users at the time. Stephen Curry was also among its celebrity backers.
What happens to users
Beast Industries and Step did not announce changes to Step's accounts or cards. Step and Beast Industries did not respond to a request for comment from the AFP news agency, Gulf News reported.
The deal hands a creator-led company a financial product used by millions of young people. Some observers quoted by KOHO questioned whether a creator-led company could responsibly run financial products for young users.
