Beast Or Bust

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Happy Wednesday, Future Party. Here’s a weird one — for the past eight months, an Illinois man named Johnbo Stockwell has been buying and returning a $230, 110-pound anvil on repeat. And he says he won’t stop until “someone does something about it.” His mission? To “overthrow Amazon.com.” How abusing Prime shipping will accomplish that is anyone’s guess, but we can’t help sympathizing with the poor delivery driver stuck in the middle of this David-and-Goliath showdown.

MrBeast, the world’s most successful YouTuber, is making several changes at his company to ensure that it can become a sustainable one.

The Big Picture: Despite the millions of dollars that flow through Beast Industries, the company spends a lot more than it makes. Last year, revenue from YouTube and other media hit $224 million, but costs ballooned to $334 million. MrBeast and new CEO Jeffrey Housenbold are promising investors that the numbers will turn around this year… a shift they say could be key to becoming “the next-generation Disney.”

Behind The Bills: Like Disney itself (and much of Hollywood), Beast Industries is cutting costs to get back in the black.

Check Balance: With “excess” sort of being MrBeast’s calling card, cutting back risks breaking the formula. His entire appeal rests on spectacle — giving away millions of dollars or pulling off impossible, expensive stunts. If the money scale drops, does the audience as well?

His game show on Prime Video, Beast Games, is a perfect example of the tension. Even with a $100 million deal, the show still lost “tens of millions” due to runaway costs. Although the show was renewed for additional seasons, that model isn’t built to last in a belt-tightening entertainment industry.

Projection: Given the success of MrBeast’s Feastables chocolate bar brand, expect him to double down on consumer products as a way to offset media costs.

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A Stanford University study found that AI is hitting young workers the hardest, especially in entry-level roles that were once the bread and butter of college grads.

Why It Hurts: The AI revolution arrived in the labor market at a pretty bleak time — high inflation, a profit-above-all-else atmosphere, and endless layoffs. Company adoption has been so fast that analysts barely had time to measure its effects on real people… until now. The result: Gen Z is finding it harder to land the kinds of starter jobs that once launched careers in desirable industries.

Behind The Curtain: If you’ve suspected AI played a role in your 800 LinkedIn applications being rejected or ignored, you’re not wrong.

The Future: Interestingly, AI isn’t disrupting most industries too heavily and has had little effect on the employment of senior workers — demonstrating that their connections and experience still make them invaluable. Well, at least that’s the case for now.

But for younger workers just starting out, AI is now capable enough to replace them — and companies are gladly doing so, essentially sawing off the career ladder at the bottom. Long term, that could backfire if businesses struggle to cultivate the next generation of experienced employees.

Prediction: Companies that want to stay competitive will likely double down on mentorship and apprenticeship programs to grow human talent alongside AI. No wonder internships and no-college hiring programs are suddenly more competitive than ever.

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55.7% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever shopped at Abercrombie & Fitch?

“Circa 1997. I can still feel the burn in my nostrils from the overpowering cologne.”

“Not since the early 2000s (when I was young and wearing colorful polo shirts with little denim skirts).”

“Pre-00s when the shirtless doormen greeted everyone.”

“With my daughter when she was in middle school and cared about designer names.”

“Shopped, yes, but I never bought anything from them, as their clothes were always slim or tight fits. I like things that are looser and more relaxed.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

📕 Anthropic settled the copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by a group of authors that could have kneecapped the company.

👀 Apple appears to be changing its tune about making major acquisitions, even exploring bids for Perplexity and Mistral.

🏠 Reframe Solutions, a startup that leverages robotics and microfactories to build affordable homes, has raised $20 million in a Series A round.

⛹️‍♀️ Nike has minted Caitlin Clark as a new signature athlete, with a shoes and apparel line dropping next year.

👟 The Pinault family (the owners of Kering) is considering selling their 29% stake in Puma. Investors like the idea.

🎾 The US Tennis Association is working overtime to make sure that the US Open is the hottest celebrity event of the year.

📱 Spotify is diving further into becoming a social network with the launch of in-app DMs.

💻 YouTube is rolling out a new “Hype” feature that will let viewers boost accounts with fewer than 500,000 subscribers.

🎓 Instagram is taking a page out of the OG Facebook playbook with a feature that connects students on the same college campus. Wait, didn’t TikTok just debut the same feature?