(RoyalPatriot.com )- David Green, the 80-year-old founder of the Hobby Lobby network of arts and crafts stores, claims he has “chosen God” over wealth and has transferred ownership of his multi-billion-dollar enterprise to a charitable trust rather than to his children.
It’s been reported that by selling the company, he may have also avoided paying the potentially millions of dollars in capital gains taxes that would have been incurred had he kept the chain in the family name.
According to reports, the action is comparable to Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, who announced last month that his clothing company would be transferred.
Chouinard avoided federal estate and gift taxes of 40% by redistributing almost all Patagonia income to environmental preservation organizations.
According to Forbes, Chouinard has a net worth of $1.2 billion. This suggests that he may have avoided paying more than $700 million in capital gains taxes by transferring 98% of the shares of Patagonia to a charitable organization.
Forbes estimated Green’s wealth to be at $13.7 billion.
This past weekend, Green remarked on Fox News that “money can be a burden and, in most situations, if you drill down on it, riches is a curse in terms of marriage, children, and things of that type.”
He said they’re stewarding the company, so our children come to work and are paid for their labor, and that’s a paradigm shift from ownership that can wreck a family.
He stated that he did not feel it was appropriate for a business owner to sell their firm and keep the proceeds for “yourself and your family.”
Green said this weekend that well-meaning attorneys and accountants encouraged him to pass ownership down to his children and grandchildren. He didn’t think it was fair that he could influence or even sabotage the destiny of grandchildren who hadn’t even been born yet.
Green also recalled the 1980s when he nearly lost his firm because he had “become haughty thinking that I had the Midas touch” and stated in the opinion article that he saw himself as a custodian of the business rather than its owner.
He added that he considers “prayer and the Bible” to be his “source of truth” and that he thinks business owners will see a revolution in their industries if they “pray and seek truth from the Bible.”
