The Spirit of Giving: What People Get Wrong About MrBeast

Is all charity good charity?

Allison Yaffee

Allison Yaffee is a research associate for Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org. She graduated from Rutgers University in 2020 where she majored in political science and minored in linguistics. In the summer of 2020, Yaffee was an intern with Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org. From May 2021 to January 2023, she was a research associate with Sphere Education Initiatives.

‘Tis the season of giving! Christmas is a time often associated with charity which is why we want to discuss MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson. Despite being responsible for one of the largest philanthropic acts we have seen this year, Jimmy has faced a lot of criticism for his building of wells in Africa.

Some say he was wrong because he profited, others say he was wrong because he made African governments look bad. Are there any merits to these claims? Did MrBeast do something wrong by providing sources of clean drinking water to half a million people?