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Jimmy Donaldson has in the past been criticized for using the $700 million<\/a> fortune amassed by his work on YouTube<\/a> to right social inequalities. But the 26-year-old<\/a>, who goes by the online moniker \u2018MrBeast\u2019 has a question: what would you have him do instead?<\/p>\n The creator posted on X<\/a> this week about the backlash he has received on videos such as \u2018I built 100 homes and gave them away\u2019 and \u20181,000 blind people see for the first time.\u2019<\/p>\n But the content creator<\/a>\u2014who has launched a philanthropic arm to his brand\u2014is determined to keep up the work in the same vain as many high net worth individuals before him. <\/p>\n Posting on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Donaldson wrote on Sunday: \u201cWhen we help people (curing 1,000 blind people, building 100 houses, 100 wells, etc) people get mad and say I shouldn\u2019t be doing this and governments should. <\/p>\n \u201cYes, ideally a YouTuber isn\u2019t the one fixing these issues but I\u2019m not just gonna stand by and do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n MrBeast\u2019s blindness video<\/a>, posted on Jan. 28, 2023, sparked a debate about the ethics of influencers making content about philanthropic deeds. Donaldson was accused of \u201cmaking content out of people who can\u2019t see.\u201d Others added: \u201cNow you have to be filmed for a YouTube video to get vision.\u201d<\/p>\n The influencer<\/a>, who sleeps in his North Carolina studio to cut down on driving time to the office, hit back in February 2023<\/a>. Again posting on X, he wrote: \u201cTwitter \u2013 Rich people should help others with their money. <\/p>\n \u201cMe \u2013 Okay, I\u2019ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny. <\/p>\n \u201cTwitter \u2013 MrBeast bad.\u201d <\/p>\n Twitter \u2013 Rich people should help others with their money<\/p>\n Me \u2013 Okay, I\u2019ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny.<\/p>\n Twitter \u2013 MrBeast bad<\/p>\n \u2014 MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 30, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Even Donaldson, who has grown his business empire with the likes of a burger brand \u2018MrBeast Burgers\u2019 and snacking brand \u2018Feastables\u2019, has questioned before why individuals are stepping in to bridge inequalities that should, in theory, be addressed by governments. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand why curable blindness is a thing,\u201d Mr Beast wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cWhy don\u2019t governments step in and help? Even if you\u2019re thinking purely from a financial standpoint it\u2019s hard to see how they don\u2019t ROI on taxes from people being able to work again.\u201d<\/p>\n The confusion Donaldson experienced was encountered by another famous pair of philanthropists<\/a> when they began their foundation: Bill and Melinda Gates<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Microsoft co-founder<\/a> wrote that in 1993 when the entrepreneur and his then-wife first visited Africa they assumed that \u201cif millions of children were dying, there would be massive worldwide effort to save them.\u201d The deaths of these children occurred because of a range of reasons: measles, malaria, hepatitis B, yellow fever and rotavirus\u2014a diarrhea and vomiting sickness which many children in the western world are vaccinated against.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we were wrong,\u201d wrote the tech titan on his blog, GatesNotes<\/a>, in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n
Government and philanthropy<\/h2>\n