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MrBeast ‘would have paid Alex Honnold more than $500,000’ for climbing Taipei 101 for his YouTube channel

Alex Honnold completed the climb on January 25, scaling the 1,667-ft skyscraper in Taiwan without any safety equipment.

2 min readNew DelhiJan 27, 2026 05:09 PM IST

Netflix reportedly paid Alex Honnold about $500,000 for the climb (Image source: @alexhonnold/Instagram)

YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, reacted to Alex Honnold’s historic free solo ascent of Taipei 101, a 508-m skyscraper in the Taiwanese capital, saying he would have paid the rock climber more than $500,000 had the stunt been done for his YouTube channel.

Honnold completed the climb on January 25, scaling the 1,667-ft skyscraper in Taiwan without any safety equipment. He completed the ascent in one hour and 32 minutes, which was broadcast live on Netflix as part of Skyscraper Live.

According to The New York Times, Netflix paid Honnold about $500,000 for the climb, an amount the climber later described as “embarrassingly small” when compared with salaries earned in major professional sports.

Despite that, Honnold said he was grateful for the payment, noting that it helped support his camera crew and close friends who worked on the project. He added that he would have been willing to attempt the climb even without pay.

Reacting to the news on X, MrBeast said he would have offered even more money if the climb had appeared on his own platform.

MrBeast reveals he would have paid Alex Honnold more than $500,000 to climb Taipei 101, which is 1,667 feet tall, on his YouTube channel without a harness, parachute, or any safety gear.

Netflix allegedly paid Alex Honnold $500,000. pic.twitter.com/VjnS4zEHf7

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) January 26, 2026

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The comment has been doing the rounds, with one user commenting, “Bro was probably gonna climb it regardless but was able to do it legally without putting bystanders at risk and made some.” Another user wrote, “He will probably get more endorsements and he will post for engagements and return on investments too.”

“mrbeast treating human life like a youtube thumbnail is actually on brand,” a third user reacted. “Accept a senior manager’s salary to climb a 1667 foot tall tower with no harness or be in a Mr Beast video. The choice is yours,” a fourth user chimed in.