The founder of Hobby Lobby says he’s giving his company away.
In an op-ed for Fox News published last week, David Green name-checked Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who recently announced that he would be giving away his company.
Unlike Chouinard, however, Green said that his decision was because he “chose God.” He explained that his faith was the “true source” of his success, and giving away his company came down to his own struggle between considering himself an owner of his company, or a steward.
“As an owner, there are certain rights and responsibilities, including the right to sell the company and keep the profits for yourself and your family,” he said. “As our company grew, that idea began to bother me more and more. Well-meaning attorneys and accountants advised me to simply pass ownership down to my children and grandchildren. It didn’t seem fair to me that I might change or even ruin the future of grandchildren who had not even been born yet.”
In the end, Green wrote that he decided he was a steward, and that “God was the true owner of my business.
“Wealth can be a curse and, in most cases, if you drill down on it, wealth is a curse in terms of marriage, children, and things of that nature,” he said on the program. “So we’re stewarding our company and, therefore, our children come to work, and they get what they earn…It’s a paradigm change from ownership that can really wreck a family.” Green’s personal net worth is $14 billion, according to Forbes.
Fortune