Jimmy Donaldson, popular as MrBeast, organised a reality show aired on Amazon Prime Video that saw 1,000 contestants competing for a historic $10 million grand prize. The inaugural winner, Jeffrey Allen - who was jobless when he joined the show - walked away with the huge sum. The winner has now opened up about how he did it for more than just the prize money. According to Fortune, at the time of joining the show, besides unemployment, he was also dealing with the struggles of having a son with a rare brain disease.
How did Jeffery Allen prepare for the show?
“I applied for it, but I didn't really tell anybody until I knew I got in,” Allen told People. “So it was a secret I kept… I don't wanna get anybody's hopes up and I don't want my wife to start planning what life's gonna be like with me gone for a handful of weeks. So I waited until I actually got in before I told them,” he added.
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How is he handling his multimillionaire status?
“It’s a blessing to win $10 million and have 10 million eyes from all over the world on you and hear about my son’s rare brain disease,” Allen told Fortune. “But also it’s a little daunting,” he continued.
What will he do with the $10 million?
Though Allen won the show, he received the money only after the Beast Games was released. Soon after getting the prize, he moved a majority portion into a high-yield U.S. treasuries cash reserve, reported Fortune.
{{/usCountry}}Though Allen won the show, he received the money only after the Beast Games was released. Soon after getting the prize, he moved a majority portion into a high-yield U.S. treasuries cash reserve, reported Fortune.
{{/usCountry}}He set up a special needs trust for his son to make sure he has long-term financial support. Further, the millionaire donated $200,000 to charity to help fund research for creatine transporter deficiency (CTD), the disease his son suffers from, which has caused a deficit in his brain development.
“His goals are pretty clear, that he wants to stand up all his money,” Allen’s financial advisor Emmy Sakulrompochai told Fortune. “He wants to be able to grow and invest that over time so that he could create impact as much as possible within the research,” Sakulrompochai added.
In a recent interview, he also spoke about his son's rare disease.
Jeffery Allen’s on joining Beast Games:
“My ultimate aim for joining Beast Games was to have a platform to talk about my son—Lucas’s rare brain disease,” he told Fortune.
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“I realised, wait, I’m this far, I can also win this thing,” he continued, adding, “I got the best of both worlds, and it’s crazy to even think back to it.”