Christian business leaders have run some of America’s most successful and influential companies. Here are the four current (as of November 2015) most successful Christians in business:
1. David Green, Hobby Lobby Billionaire David Green made waves in 2014 when Hobby Lobby defeated the federal government’s requirement that closely held companies cover certain types of birth control medication and procedures that many Christians believe are abortifacients. Green’s 680 craft stores are always closed on Sunday. Green’s net worth is $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.
2. The Chang Family, Forever 21 CEO Do Won Chang and his wife Jin Sook started the fashion company in 1984. The family-run retailer prints John 3:16 on the bottom of every bag and has come up against criticism for some of its items that phrases such as “Holy” and “Love, peace, faith, hope, Jesus” on them. The couple’s net worth is estimated at $4.7 billion, according to Forbes.
3. Dan Cathy, Chick-Fil-A Dan Cathy, who has a current net worth of $3.7 billion, became the CEO of Chick-fil-A after his father, S. Truett Cathy, passed away in 2014. Truett Cathy started in the restaurant business in 1946 and opened his first Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta in 1967. He was a conservative Christian who, like Hobby Lobby’s David Green, chose to have his restaurants closed on Sundays. “Executives often said the chain made as much money in six days as its competitors do in seven,” said USA Today. The company itself is worth $5.5 billion.
4. John Tyson, Tyson Foods Poultry giant Tyson Foods has hired more than 100 chaplains for its work force. When John Tyson took over for his father, his own history of troubles with alcohol were a concern for the company’s investors. Tyson’s Christian faith helped him clean up his act, and he hoped the chaplain program would similarly help troubled employees. John Tyson’s net worth is $1.35 billion.