YouTuber Ben Schneider, aka Reckless Ben, has been using both his YouTube channel and Patreon, the subscription service founded by musician Jack Conte and developer Sam Yam in May 2013, to campaign against the aftermarket LEGO speciality chain Bricks & Minifigs. According to CNBC, Patreon has been worth over $4 billion since 2022.As it happened, in 2023, Bryan Mansell and his 83-year-old father decided to place their $200,000 of Star Wars LEGO collection, including 780 unopened sets and 1,200 rare minifigures, on consignment at the Bricks & Minifigs franchise in Salem, Oregon, near their home in Keizer.However, when the franchise owners got involved in a contract dispute with the toy chain, B&M took over and kept the Mansell LEGO collection for reselling as part of their own profit. The original owners claimed it was illegal on the company’s part to detain the collection that’s rightfully theirs and have been campaigning online and taking legal measures to get them back.In the wake of the allegations, Reckless Ben began his own online campaign, including videos on YouTube and Patreon and a GoFundMe to help the Mansell family. However, in doing so, he himself got into trouble with the law and was arrested in Utah last week and charged with multiple misdemeanors.Now, in the wake of the ongoing drama, Patreon co-founder and CEO Jack Conte went on YouTube and claimed his company received “an official takedown request” filed by Bricks & Minifigs on May 29 regarding accounts and content related to Reckless Ben. In a viral video, he responded:“After an extensive review and investigation by Patreon’s trust and safety team, we have, in fact, unfortunately determined that Bricks & Minifigs can stuff it. We are keeping Ben’s page up. And if Bricks & Minifigs doesn’t like that, they can sue us.”Conte’s video titled “Take Down Notification: Reckless Ben’s Patreon Account,” has garnered severe traction on YouTube and circulated across other social media platforms.All about Patreon’s growing net worthJack Conte and his wife, Nataly Dawn, are known as the indie musical duo Pomplamoose. Around 2012, they were already making approximately $400,000 a year and had a team to handle their scheduling tour dates and merchandise sales. Yet, the couple was looking to make money from their YouTube videos.Meanwhile, Conte spent three months producing the music video for Pedals but maxed out his credit cards. This is when he felt completely burnt out. In March 2022, he told CNBC Make It:“I sat there in a puddle of bottled water, crying like a baby. And it was so dumb.”Adding salt to the wound, the video amassed millions of views under YouTube’s old business model but generated little revenue. This is when Jack Conte got desperate to figure out a better way to make money through music, while also helping fellow creators get paid for their work.At this time, Conte reunited with his freshman roommate and fellow musician/ developer Sam Yam, who instantly turned Jack’s idea into a business opportunity, allowing creators to directly connect to their fans’ wallets. And that’s how Patreon was born.It is noteworthy that back then, many considered Pomplamoose’s $11,000 debt and struggle to raise funds as a “marketing stunt” to build the platform. Meanwhile, Jack claimed he received no salary as the company’s CEO but only earned from the proceeds of his band/s.By August 2013, Patreon raised $2.1 million from a group of venture capitalists and investors. Within the next ten months, the company raised another $15 million via a series A round led by Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer. By 2016, the amount had doubled in the series B round, led by Thrive Capital and Patreon was flourishing with $47.1 million.Meanwhile, within the first 18 months, the platform had more than 125,000 patrons sign up, who were spending over $1 million per month, which directly reached their favorite creators.“In retrospect, now you look at it like us being able to send $3 billion now to creators, like the scale has been extremely rapid,” Yam told CNBC.Jack Conte added:“There’s always a risk that the company shifts in balance, and that’s a risk I think we’ve seen play out with lots of other companies. I don’t want that to play out at Patreon. And that’s why it’s, like, the top thing on my mind every morning when I get out of bed.”Today, Patreon is one of the world’s leading digital membership platforms, where creators can run their own subscription services for their fans. Its motto is to “change the way art is valued.” The website description reads:“Patreon is the best place for creators to build community with their biggest fans, share exclusive work, and turn their passions into lasting creative businesses. Starting... is free for creators and their fans. If they want to start earning an income, they can choose to launch their own digital shop or run a paid membership. Here, creators get a direct line to their communities. That means they never have to worry about ads or algorithms getting in between them and the people who matter most.”Until 2022, the company had earned over $400 million and paid out billions to creators. As of April 2021, its net value stands at over $4 billion. In March of that same year, the San Francisco-based form announced 250,000 creators were using their platform and had over 8 million active patrons, spread across 200 countries. As of April 2026, the number had gone up to 80 million.Besides being the digital platform's co-founder and CEO, Jack Conte continues to be a singer, songwriter, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist for Pomplamoose. He also fronts the funk band Scary Pockets and releases weekly music videos and covers on Patreon.It remains to be seen what happens between Patreon and Bricks & Minifigs. However, Conte and Yam are refusing to bow down to the toy chain’s legal measures, which include a verified complaint with exhibits, a request for immediate content removal pursuant to a temporary restraining order, and a motion for the said RO and an injunction.