Hobby Lobby is not just your average craft store. For many fans of the company, Hobby Lobby is an obsession. You can find just about anything you could possibly need to decorate and style your home in this store. Of course, you can also find plenty of crafting to keep you busy as long as you’d like. Hobby Lobby CEO David Green can be credited as the founder of this incredibly successful and much loved store, but there’s so much more to David Green than most people know. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about David Green.
1. He has a religious background.
Truth be told, religion plays a big role in David Green’s entire life. But to start with, it should be noted that David Green comes from a religious family. His father was a pastor of a small Christian church with only 35 members. All of his siblings eventually became pastors themselves or wives of pastors. Green is an active member of the Christian community and is also one of the largest individual donors in the country’s evangelical ministries.
2. He owns all of his company.
It’s quite rare in the world of business, but Green and his family actually own 100% of Hobby Lobby. Green was able to turn his living room-based arts and crafts manufacturing operation into a true retail monster. With 520 stores in about 42 states, there’s no denying that Green has one of the biggest success stories in the industry.
3. He doesn’t separate religion and business.
While there are a few successful businessmen out there that openly credits God for their successes, Green takes it just a bit further. Green intertwines his beliefs into his operations, and he claims that God owns everything he’s got. He believes that God owns his business or any other businesses there may be for that matter. For Green, being a believer doesn’t just happen on Sundays. Everything he believes in is part of his life—every day of the week and in every single part.
4. He’s pretty rich.
It’s no surprise that Green is one of the wealthiest people in the nation. In fact, Green ranks #79 out of America’s 400 richest individuals. Green has a hefty net worth of $4.5 billion. It’s not a shabby deal for someone that sells crafts, but people love crafting apparently. His crafting stores alone make over $3 billion in sales each year. That’s definitely enough to make someone pretty rich.
5. He’s got successful children.
Success may not always breed success, but it does so in the case of Green and his family. Green has three children, all of whom ended up becoming successful individuals like their father. Green’s eldest, Mart, is founder and CEO of the Mardel Christian & Education bookstore. He also founded an entertainment company called Every Tribe Entertainment. His second child Steve serves as President of Hobby Lobby and founder of the Museum of the Bible. Green’s daughter Darsee Lett serves as Creative Director for Hobby Lobby.
6. His life is not without controversy.
With fame naturally comes some type of controversy here and there, and Green has definitely not been immune to it. In fact, Green has been in the news lately due to a pandemic-related controversy. The billionaire has been under fire lately due to his decision to lay off a huge portion of Hobby Lobby employees. While many businesses had to do the same during the time, many people were unhappy due to Green’s reasons behind the action. He stated that people didn’t need to worry about their employment losses because God was in control.
7. He didn’t support Obamacare.
Another controversy that Green was associated with was his stance on Obamacare. In 2012, Green declared that he did not support the Affordable Care Act because of religious reasons. Businesses were mandated to carry the morning after pill as part of Obamacare, and Green clearly does not endorse the use of birth control of any kind.
8. He funded a museum.
If Green could ever fund a museum, you best believe that it’s something to do with religion. Green was one of the funders for the Museum of the Bible located in Washington, D.C. Green reportedly put in $500 million in order to get the museum up and running. That’s not a small sum of money in any case, but the museum is not affordable at any rate. Green’s son Steve was actually the primary funder for the museum.
9. His museum was controversial.
Here’s more controversy on Green and one of his endeavors. The Museum of the Bible was involved in a smuggling case, and Green had a bit of hand in it all. Green and his family reportedly dealt with various artifact dealers worldwide during the 2000s, and some of their acquisitions turned out to be forgeries. In addition, many of the artifacts found in Hobby Lobby warehouses that were intended for the museum ended up being returned to their countries of origin because they were of cultural importance.
10. He buys and gives away schools.
As incredulous as it may sound, Green literally buys property in order to give them away to Christian educational organizations. Some of his former acquisitions include the Ericsson plant in Virginia that was donated to Liberty University. In 2017, he also gave an entire campus to Zion Bible College. These two transactions alone cost the businessman upwards of $27 million. Green has also donated millions of dollars to other universities, including the $70 million donated to Oral Roberts University to get the school out of debt and scandal. Green considers this his work to build God’s kingdom here on Earth; and while the notion may be largely misunderstood, it’s regarded as generally good nevertheless.
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