Beast Industries, a holding company based in Greenville, North Carolina, and affiliated with YouTuber MrBeast, has terminated a video editor following accusations of insider trading on prediction market operator Kalshi.
Artem Kaptur is accused of trading thousands of dollars on Kalshi
On Feb. 25, Kalshi alleged that the video editor, Artem Kaptur, had traded about $4,000 on “non-public information” related to MrBeast’s videos with “near perfect” successes.
After investigating his trading activity, the company confirmed that he was an employee of Beast Industries. Kaptur was terminated from his position on Monday, according to The Associated Press and The News & Observer.
Kalshi is the first regulated exchange in the U.S. that allows users to buy and sell contracts on the outcome of current events, including elections, high-profile court cases, sports, award shows, music charts and more, according to the company’s website.
The prediction company alleged that Kaptur made $5,400 in profits for “improper” trading activity. Kalshi also suspended him from the platform for two years, fined him $20,000 and alerted federal regulators, The Associated Press and The News & Observer reported.
What did Beast Industries say about the incident?
“Beast Industries has no tolerance for this behavior, whether by contestants or our own employees,” the company, founded by Jimmy Donaldson, said in a statement Wednesday, per The News & Observer. “We have a longstanding policy in place against employees using proprietary company information which safeguards the highest standards and ethics throughout our organization.”
Jeff Housenbold, the company’s president and CEO, told CNBC’s Squawk Box in February that prediction markets like Kalshi are a “new phenomenon” that both corporations and federal regulators are dealing with right now. He said he proposed policies several months back to combat this issue before the recent incident with Kaptur occurred.
“A couple of months ago, I put in policies for all of our contestants in Beast Games Seasons 1, 2 and 3 and our employees, to make them aware that we don’t want anyone to trade on information, regardless of what the current ambiguities around the law [if it’s] gambling or not,” Housenbold told CNBC.
Who is MrBeast?
Donaldson, 27, adopted the moniker “MrBeast” and launched the most successful YouTube channel, with around 470 million subscribers. The North Carolina native started his page at age 13. He is widely known for his elaborate stunts, contests and giveaways, and uses his fortune to invest in other business ventures like MrBeast Burger and the snack brand Feastables, which he launched in January 2022.
“No other brand is creating quality snacks with a focus on fun at a mass scale, and I’m excited for everyone to experience it,” Donaldson said in a news release at the time.
His competition show, Beast Games, is also a hit on Prime Video.