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Two years ago, Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, ventured to Bentonville, Arkansas, with his management team to talk creators — and chocolate. Donaldson, a giant on YouTube (252 million-plus subscribers), was aiming to leverage his audience to build a real-world business: a candy line called Feastables. And Walmart, based in Bentonville, signed on as a launch partner.

Feastables now brings in nine figures annually in revenue, Donaldson told a conference last year, making it a textbook example of how a creator can monetize fandom. “I know for a fact that Walmart and a lot of these retailers are now going, ‘Ok, what Jimmy did in chocolate, what Logan [Paul] did in hydration [with beverage brand Prime], are creators building in other categories? And should we be more aggressive?” says Reed Duchscher, CEO of creator management firm Night Media, which had repped MrBeast in all areas until recently but now just reps Donaldson for his Feastables business.

Doug DeMuro has new representation. The automotive expert, whose car reviews reach nearly five million YouTube subscribers, has signed with Beverly Hills-based talent agency WME.

The representation deal will cover DeMuro’s personal brand as well as his Cars & Bids venture. The California-based creator launched his automotive auction platform in 2020 alongside tech entrepreneur Blake Machado. Cars & Bids has since established itself as a useful hub for car lovers who are looking to buy and sell rare vehicles.

DeMuro and Machado’s hub has been supported several injections of funding, including a $37 million round led by The Chernin Group earlier this year. Cars & Bids currently facilitates $380 million of sales for special-interest vehicles while reaching millions of visitors per month.

Before launching his YouTube channel and co-founding Cars & Bids, DeMuro held editorial gigs at outlets like Jalopnik and Autotrader.com. His viewers trust him thanks to his insights about popular manufacturers and his detail-oriented review style.

A YouTube star who helps car owners sell rare vehicles has made a big sale of his own. Cars and Bids, the auction platform co-founded by Doug DeMuro, has landed 37 million in new funding courtesy of The Chernin Group.

As part of the deal, The Chernin Group will take a majority stake in DeMuro’s digital empire. His YouTube channel will be merged with Cars and Bids to create a single entity, which will be led by newly-appointed CEO Ro Choy. The former BitTorrent CEO will steer DeMuro’s business as it looks to accelerate its growth.

DeMuro, whose editorial experience includes stints at Jalopnik and Autotrader.com, launched his eponymous YouTube channel in 2013. Over the following decade, the Denver native established himself as one of the most trusted car reviewers on the platform.

Videos on DeMuro’s YouTube channel have collectively received more than 1.7 billion lifetime views. While he...