Winning $1 million by accident is rare enough, but one creator says that’s exactly what happened — and he now intends to pass the money on to viewers.
Philip DeFranco ended up taking the top prize in MrBeast’s creator challenge after being invited to join the 50 YouTuber contest.
The video, titled 50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000, brought together 50 major YouTube names inside a cube, with the last person standing claiming $1,000,000 for their audience.
DeFranco, better known online as PhillyD, is the host of The Philip DeFranco Show, where he covers daily news and pop culture topics. His channel has more than 6.6 million subscribers on YouTube.
In a recent TikTok, he explained that he “didn’t expect” to be asked to take part, partly because he has covered MrBeast in the past. He said he agreed largely because he wanted to see the real behind-the-scenes process of a MrBeast production — and then went on to win the entire challenge.
“Now, I get to pluck a million bucks out of Mr Beast’s wallet and get to give it to a bunch of y’all,” he said.
He also made clear that he has no intention of pocketing the prize himself, pushing back on what he described as online misinformation.
“This is about giving money to my subscribers,” he added, who he called ‘beautiful b******s.’
“It is amazing to be able to give back and do some good in a way that can actually have some impact.”
According to DeFranco, the result nearly went another way. He said fellow creator JC Caylen told him he had been “offered money not to vote for him” during the contest.
The challenge video, uploaded just days ago, has already drawn tens of millions of views and quickly became one of MrBeast’s most watched uploads of the year. In the comments, MrBeast also thanked supporters as he celebrated reaching 500 million subscribers on YouTube.
The YouTuber, whose real name is James Stephen Donaldson, became the first individual creator to reach that milestone on June 12, 2026.
He marked the occasion during a livestream, telling viewers:
“500 million! Guys, this is freaking insane!
“I shouldn’t have half a billion subscribers. Statistically, I shouldn’t. I didn’t grow up with much. Both my parents were in the military. We ended up going bankrupt in 2008,” he emotionally explained.
Donaldson also reflected on how little he had when he first began uploading, saying he couldn’t even afford proper equipment in the early days of his channel.
“It doesn’t make sense that I have 500 million subscribers,” he added.
MrBeast first launched his channel in 2012 when he was 13, originally using the name ‘MrBeast6000’.
Anyone hoping to take part in DeFranco’s giveaway will have to wait a little longer, as he has not yet shared the entry details.