Hobby Lobby founder explains decision to 'give away ownership' of company: 'Joy in giving what we have'
David Green tells 'Varney & Co.' his new mission is for his company to 'fund Christianity' and ministries across the country, explaining that he's chosen God over wealth
Hobby Lobby founder David Green on 'funding Christianity': 'God has blessed us'
Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green joined 'Varney & Co.,' Monday, to explain his decision to give away ownership of his company and, instead, "choose God."
Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green broke news when he announced in a Fox News op-ed released on Oct 21 that he's giving away ownership of his company, writing on foxnews.com that he "chose God" over wealth.
Green, who said 100% of the company's voting stock has been moved to a trust where the "stewardship" can continue to pass on to one person from another, joined FOX Business' "Varney & Co." on Monday to elaborate on his decision and explain his company's future mission.
"We really wanted to do something that mattered a hundred years from now. Instead of just absorbing things ourselves, we wanted to do things in various ministries," Green told host Stuart Varney.
"We do something real novel: you get what you earn. If you don't earn anything, you don't get anything… But no one actually creates a lot of wealth," the CEO said of his Christian-owned company's structure. "Wealth can be a curse; we all do well, working in the company and get[ting] paid for what we do. So we see ourselves as, really, stewardships of the profits that we earn."
MY DECISION TO GIVE AWAY OWNERSHIP OF HOBBY LOBBY: I CHOSE GO
Green, who said he founded Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. with a mere $600 loan in 1972, first published his thought process behind the decision to "give away ownership" of his company by posing a question to all business leaders – What is the true source of your success? – before answering the question himself:
Hobby Lobby CEO shares his message of faith over fortune after giving up company for good
Hobby Lobby CEO David Green joins 'Fox & Friends Weekend' to discuss why he chose to give up his company in the name of purpose.
"For me, my source of truth has always been prayer and the Bible. I truly believe that if leaders pray and seek truth from the Bible that their businesses will be revolutionized," Green wrote in the op-ed.
"Perhaps the biggest challenge is to ask the question of whether you are an owner or a steward – a manager of what you’ve been entrusted with," he continued, before declaring himself a steward of God.
Green's philanthropic move comes only one month after the founder of outdoor gear company Patagonia, long known for environmental activism, said the company is transferring all of its voting shares into a trust "dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature."
In the September letter posted on the privately-held company's website, founder Yvon Chouinard said the 50-year-old company would transfer 100% of its voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and 100% of its nonvoting stock had been given to the Holdfast Collective. Each year after reinvesting profits back into the company, Chouinard said the remaining funds will be distributed as a dividend to the trusts in their ongoing efforts to fight the climate crisis.
PATAGONIA'S BILLIONAIRE FOUNDER PUTS HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS
Following suit, Green cited founder and CEO Yvon Chouinard's gesture in his own op-ed, quoting him as saying, "Instead of ‘going public,’ you could say we’re ‘going purpose.’"
Patagonia's billionaire founder puts his money where his mouth is
'The Five' panel reacts to Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard giving away his company to help fight the climate change crisis.
On Monday, Varney asked Green if customers can expect Hobby Lobby, with its 969 arts-and-crafts stores in 47 states, to fund Christianity and ministries across the country — to which the founder replied with an emphatic "yes."
"Exactly, that's the way it's going to be from now on. That's the way it's set up. There's no buyout [possibility]. We get joy in doing what we do in terms of our giving."
"At some point, there's just nothing more that this world has that I want," Green continued. "So why would I not have joy in giving what we have? We actually give 50% of our profits every year. And we have no debt."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER
Green, who recently penned a book entitled, "Leadership NOT by the Book," refers to a different book entirely for his business acumen: the Bible.
The façade of a Hobby Lobby location. (iStock / iStock)
In his op-ed, the CEO encouraged readers to seek wisdom from Proverbs by reading one of the book's 31 chapters each day and reiterated his message of stewardship in urging others to take care of what God has given.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
"We started with $600, and we'll do $8 billion [in sales] this year. God has blessed us, and we like to use that blessing for His sake," Green concluded on "Varney & Co."
Fox News' Taylor Penley and the Associated Press contributed to this report.