MormonLeaks is a nonprofit website that launched in 2016 with the stated purpose of sharing LDS Church “whistleblowers'” information anonymously to increase transparency and foster a public dialogue.
On Wednesday, MormonLeaks posted a report saying that 13 companies have domains that are hosted by LDS Church servers, suggesting that the companies are owned by the Church.
At the end of 2017, the companies’ stock was worth a total of $32,769,914,000, MormonLeaks says. One of the financial reports used was from 2015.
The MormonLeaks report indicates that its people attempted to contact each of the companies’ LLC managers, whose names were required on business forms.
Only one person admitted she was the manager of the LLC, MormonLeaks said, but she would not confirm the company she managed was owned by the LDS Church.
MormonLeaks also said its people checked the names of the LLC managers against a 2015 directory of LDS employees, and found all the managers’ names listed. The website did not provide the names or any kind of access to the directory.
Asked for comment, the LDS Church referred to a recent statement it published online about finances. It says that just as a household should set aside money for future needs, so should the church.
“These funds are added to Church reserves, which include stocks and bonds, taxable businesses, agricultural interests and commercial and residential property.”
“While the vast majority of its financial resources comes from the tithes and offerings of Church members, the Church also holds business interests that help in accomplishing its mission.”
The MormonLeaks article listed the names of the 13 companies:
- Ashmore Wealth Management LLC, valued at $1,918,532,000
- Argyll Research LLC, valued at $446,327,000
- Clifton Park Capital Management, LLC, valued at $880,518,000
- Cortland Advisers LLC, valued at 2,177,742,000
- Elkfork Partners LLC, valued at $3,687,774,000
- Flinton Capital Management LLC, valued at $2,943,847,000
- Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC, valued at $4,407,275,000
- Green Valley Investors LLC, valued at $2,098,464,000
- Meadow Creek Investment Management LLC, valued at $4,603,236,000
- Neuburgh Advisers LLC, valued at $2,791,122,000
- Riverhead Capital Management LLC, valued at $2,361,388,000
- Tiverton Asset Management LLC, valued at $1,598,252,000
- Tyers Asset Management LLC, valued at $2,855,436,000
The combined values of the companies is nearly $32.8 billion.
And verily, verily, their mission was revealed to mankind; makin’ money moves.
Good thing too. I’m glad my church has its financial house in order.
I would argue correlation does not imply causation. If someone (anyone) invests in pharma stocks, they are not investing specifically in any one of the companies products. If you invest in Purdue (maker of Oxycontin), you are not endorsing the use or abuse of any of their products. Purdue makes lots of things.
Pharmaceutical companies make up a huge portion of all medical spending in this country, which makes up about 17% of the whole US economy.
Anyone who invests in a mutual fund probably has some pharma stock mixed in there. That doesn’t mean that they support the use and/or abuse of opioids.
I think the LDS Church’s stand on smoking weed is not any different than its stand on smoking tobacco. It’s a foreign substance that should not be there, so don’t put it there. They have been consistently saying that since the word of wisdom was introduced.