A nine-year-old YouTuber wanted more people to watch his Minecraft and Roblox videos. His father says the solution eventually produced a number neither of them expected: $118,000.
Dave, the father behind the Mighty Mike Plays channel, said he learned about the spending after being called into a meeting with his manager, corporate staff, and finance employees. The company card assigned to him had allegedly racked up six figures in YouTube advertising over roughly three weeks.
The story did not begin with a six-figure campaign. Dave said he once put about $20 into an ad for one of Mike’s videos after the boy complained that his channel was getting few views or subscribers, and he explained how to choose an audience, set a budget, and launch the promotion.
What Dave says he did not realize was that Mike had been paying close attention. The same Google account already had Dave’s company card saved from an earlier Robux purchase, and the boy later began creating campaigns himself. Dave’s explanation was simple: to a nine-year-old chasing views, a bigger number on the budget screen meant more people watching.
The $20 Lesson
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In the video posted to Mighty Mike Plays, Dave said the channel began as a low-key way for his son to upload gameplay from a PlayStation 5. Early videos attracted only a handful of views, but Mike kept recording because he enjoyed it.
That led to the small advertising experiment. Dave said he showed his son how YouTube’s promotion tools worked while setting up the $20 campaign. Mike later went back into the advertising system and created campaigns of his own.
“He didn’t really register that was supposed to be some kind of limit in his head,” Dave said. “The logic was simple, I guess. More money, more views.”
Dave said the card kept approving the spending without a limit, stopping the campaigns. He took responsibility for leaving the payment method accessible and for not setting parental controls or spending caps.
Corporate Calling
The scale of the problem became clear when Dave was summoned to work. He said employees showed him a breakdown of advertising spending from the previous three weeks and asked him to explain $118,000 charged to the company card assigned to him.
The transactions pointed back to promoted videos on his son’s channel, including Minecraft and Roblox content. Dave said three of the videos had reached roughly 200,000 views.
The $118,000 figure and the company’s response remain Dave’s account. Dexerto also reported that it had not independently verified the amount or what the employer would ultimately do.
Dave said the matter had been escalated within the company. At the time of the video, he did not know whether he would be required to repay some or all of the money or whether he would keep his job.
Guard Rails
At home, the fallout was more immediate. Dave said Mike would face consequences, while also making clear that he viewed the larger failure as his own responsibility as the adult who left a company payment method available to a child.
He said the family plans to remove saved payment information, add spending caps, and install stronger parental controls. The Mighty Mike Plays channel may also be paused while they work out what happens next.
Near the end of the video, Dave asked his son whether he had anything to say to viewers. Mike’s response was considerably shorter than his father’s 14-minute explanation.
“I’m definitely cooked.”