Only I could get canceled for giving people a place to live with no strings attached.
That was the response from YouTubes biggest star MrBeast following reports that the North Carolina man was buying a neighborhood to house his staff and members of his family.
MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, has reportedly been buying up property in Greenvillea city in his home stateover the past couple of years.
But the move has been criticized by commentators online, who slammed the move as being cult-like and predicted the online personality would begin to control the inhabitants lives.
The generous move isnt a new habit for the 25-year-old, who launched Beast Philanthropy in 2017 with a mission statement of: Feed those who are hungry. House those who are homeless. Combat the suffering of those in need.
So far the organization has distributed more than six million pounds of food to more than 319 million people, and gifted $3 million of aid to Ukrainian refugees last summer.
But the house-buying scheme also isnt the first time Donaldson has landed himself in hot water for one of his projects.
In February, the well-intentioned video star revealed he had paid for 1,000 people to get their sight back at a cost of potentially millions of dollars.
However he was slammed for filming the experience and posting it on YouTube, with critics saying he was making content out of people who cant see.
Donaldson Drive
MrBeasts house-buying endeavor began with the purchase of his own home in 2018a four-bedroom, four-bathroom property for approximately $320,000, according to records obtained by the New York Post.
Donaldson now owns a total of five properties in the cul de sac: a second property was purchased in 2020 for $263,000 and three more bought off-market for a combined total of $1.45 million.
The figure isnt going to put much of a dint into the bloggers fortune, with Celebrity Net Worth estimating he earns $3 million per month from his video views alone, which total nearly 40 billionbefore revenue streams such as merchandise and products are added.
Only I could get canceled for giving people a place to live with no strings attached..
All these company town tweets make no sense, I was just helping some people
MrBeast (@MrBeast) May 11, 2023
Aaron Bowden, who sold his home to the entrepreneur last year, told the Post that MrBeast had shared his plans to move members of his family and staff into the properties.
We negotiated back and forth and it had to be worth my while. And he wasnt gonna buy it, if it wasnt worth his while, Bowden said.
There is also one home left on the street that Donaldson is yet to snap up, with Bowden speculating its because the familys children are yet to finish their years at school.
He explained: My understanding is the folks who are holding out is similar to any reason why would anyone would have held outits the best school districts in the area, and they have kids in school. I wouldnt know anything for a fact because I dont walk in their shoes, but they may change their minds when their kids are out of high school and off to college.
Other neighbors, Bowden said, had simply moved up the street after selling their property to the video media mogul.
Representatives for the YouTuber confirmed Donaldson will be using the home when hes not traveling or working out of his studio nearbywhich he gave fans a sneak peek into last year.
Company towns
Critics have said Donaldson is attempting to create a company towna city or town where the residential and retail property is owned by the employer of the people who live there.
Although such schemes have been used across the coal, steel and lumber industries, historically the schemes have been found to repress employees conditions and rights.
MrBeast has rejected the hypothesis that his properties constitutean albeit very smallcompany town, tweeting: All these company town tweets make no sense, I was just helping some people.
A company town is reportedly on the cards for Tesla and SpaceX staff after CEO Elon Musk began buying up acres of land in Texas.
The town will be named Snailbrookseemingly a reference to the mascot of Musks tunneling firm the Boring Companyaccording to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the plan.
Representatives for MrBeast did not immediately respond to Fortunes request for comment.
