Controversial Hobby Lobby CEO says he’s giving away company ownership because ‘wealth can be a curse’

Company famously challenged Obamacare birth control rule

The billionaire CEO of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores says he’s giving away his ownership in the company to a trust because “wealth can be a curse” and he wants to be a steward of “what God has given us."

"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; 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," David Green told Fox and Friends Weekend this weekend.

Mr Green, 80, founded the family-owned company in Oklahoma in 1972, growing Hobby Lobby into a nationwide chain with billions of revenue each year, and earning a personal fortune of $13bn, according to Forbes.

He announced the move in an op-ed for Fox News on Friday.

"From the very beginning, our purpose was to honor God in all that we did,” he wrote. “We worked hard and God gave the results. As we were blessed by God, we saw it as a great privilege to give back. We’ve been able to provide hope through supporting ministries and planting churches all over the world."

“That bigger mission and purpose helped me realize that I was just a steward, a manager of what God had entrusted me,” he added. “God was the true owner of my business.”

The billionaire has not provided more detail about how the trust structure will work, or whether the shift in ownership will coincide with any new personal philanthropic efforts.

The Hobby Lobby executive said his decision was inspired by the family behind outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, which announced in September it would be transferring its ownership stake to a trust, which would allow the company to continue its extensive efforts to fight the climate crisis.

“Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, 83, told the New York Times. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.”

The decision from Mr Green is not the first time he’s mixed business and faith.

Hobby Lobby challenged an Affordable Care Act rule requiring businesses to provide guaranteed access to contraception through their insurance plans, taking their case to the Supreme Court in 2014 and winning.

Mr Green supported Donald Trump and Mike Pence, and the store kept its doors open during the pandemic, saying they’d received a message from God to do so.