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American media have widely covered the federal lawsuit launched last month by James Huntsman against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormon Church.
One of the reasons of the widespread coverage is who Huntsman is. He is not the proverbial poor man who claims to have been defrauded of his hard-earned money by a religion. Huntsman inherited billions from his father, the late John Huntsman Sr; his brother John Huntsman Jr. has been Governor of Utah.
Huntsman is not the first Mormon to turn into an angry ex-Mormon. But may be the first billionaire to do so, and a billionaire who now wants to add some millions to his billions by recovering them from the Church (although he states that, should he win the lawsuit, he will donate the money to groups critical of the LDS Church rather than pocketing it).
As many pious Mormons, Huntsman claims he contributed for 24 years 10 percent of his annual income to the Church. Now he wants his donations back.
The rationale for Huntsman’s claim is an expose published by the Washington Post in 2019, where it was claimed that roughly 14.3 percent of the donations the Church receives annually are set aside and invested in various businesses. The investment in turn supported various Church-owned businesses. Huntsman says that he naively believed that all the money he donated was used for helping missionaries, building temples, and supporting the LDS charitable work, and that he became very upset after he read the Post article and decided to sue.
Continued below.
A billionaire ex-Mormon sues his church. He wants back what he donated over 24 years » MercatorNet
One of the reasons of the widespread coverage is who Huntsman is. He is not the proverbial poor man who claims to have been defrauded of his hard-earned money by a religion. Huntsman inherited billions from his father, the late John Huntsman Sr; his brother John Huntsman Jr. has been Governor of Utah.
Huntsman is not the first Mormon to turn into an angry ex-Mormon. But may be the first billionaire to do so, and a billionaire who now wants to add some millions to his billions by recovering them from the Church (although he states that, should he win the lawsuit, he will donate the money to groups critical of the LDS Church rather than pocketing it).
As many pious Mormons, Huntsman claims he contributed for 24 years 10 percent of his annual income to the Church. Now he wants his donations back.
The rationale for Huntsman’s claim is an expose published by the Washington Post in 2019, where it was claimed that roughly 14.3 percent of the donations the Church receives annually are set aside and invested in various businesses. The investment in turn supported various Church-owned businesses. Huntsman says that he naively believed that all the money he donated was used for helping missionaries, building temples, and supporting the LDS charitable work, and that he became very upset after he read the Post article and decided to sue.
Continued below.
A billionaire ex-Mormon sues his church. He wants back what he donated over 24 years » MercatorNet