Watchtower stock market investments

stirred but not shaken

I recently installed Youtube on my ipad, as I was prompted to view some videos of a non jw source. It was more for entertainment. Eventually jw related videos showed up and I viewed some and found them interesting. These are not from exjws but from some who are disturbed of WT. policies and teachings. They're likely doing they're best with the resources they have available. One in particular (jason zelda) did a series (8 or more) of extensive videos which include his promotion of the KJ bible. In video 8 he shows evidence of very questionable investments the the Wt. has made. He acquired these through the public domain. I'm not quite savvy with forwarding the video, but some of you are. If you have seen these, are they ligit? They show investments in companies that produce weapons of mass destruction and other questionable activities. Some here with accounting or investment backgrounds may be able verify this, or shed some light. If it is true, it is very damning. Could someone check it out?

baker

http://nccsweb.urban.org/communityplatform/nccs/organization/profile/id/386043103

This shows 13 years of charitable reports, public information

click on 990 to view

Crazyguy

I believe these investments are made from a trust not associated with the organization at least not in name. They the Org do receive the proceeds, and if someone was shown this they would probably state that theres no way the Org could know the money was coming from these type of investments.

stirred but not shaken

Thanks Baker. Crazy: It would appear that this is a Trust by the person mentioned for the WBTS. At the moment, I'm not sure how this works. I went to the site that Baker showed above and clicked on 990. From this, it can be easily seen which stocks were invested in, so that stating that there is now way the Org could know where the money was coming from, would appear inaccurate. Could Wt. be making these investments through this trust? I wish I had more experience in this type of activity, but I don't...so I'm throwing it out there. If the Org's hands are clean from this standpoint then the person on YouTube needs to be corrected. From the distrust I've acquired for the Org's duplicity over the past few years, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

talesin

I've watched some of his videos in the past - he's very good. I just took a peek at the vid you mentioned, and another good one! There are old threads about WT stocks in Rand Corp. and other 'questionable' companies that, for example, have military connections (if the JWS were not such HYPOCRITES).

Great topic that needs to be 'revisited' for newer members.

Here's a thread about this Henrietta M. Riley trust, you may find it interesting. xx tal

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/54708/watchtower-cigarette-company

talesin

Excerpts from that thread, just to 'whet the appetite' of any readers / lurkers.

The H M Riley Trust is a U.S. trust that has the Watchtower Society as the sole beneficiary. Basically, it is a vehicle to make income for the Watchtower, using assets left by Henrietta Riley. The income generated by the trust is transferred to the Watchtower by means of a "donation". For the year ended April 30, 2002, the trust generated income of $1,740,127 and donated $1,945,645 to the Watchtower. In comparison, for the 2001 year the trust generated $2,939,731 in income, and donated $3,285,050 to the Watchtower. The difference between income and expenditure is made up by realising gains on the assets held.

Figure 3: Extract of investment listing of HM Riley Trust, April 30, 2002
One name that jumps out from the list above: Philip Morris Companies Inc, one of the world's largest manufacturers of cigarettes and tobacco products. Philipmorris.com states:
Thus, the trust has made an investment in a cigarette company, with the object of generating income which will be transferred to the Watchtower Society.

The Philip Morris name has long been associated with high quality tobacco products and globally recognized cigarette brands. Today the name is proudly carried by the leading cigarette manufacturer in the United States,Philip Morris USA, and by Philip Morris International, the world’s leading international cigarette business with products sold in 160 countries worldwide.

Naughty, naughty! A tobacco company, ayup. :P

brandnew

Watchtower gamblin peoples hard earned money.......wow....just wow😡😡😡

Mad Puppy

Beth Sarim

**

Watchtower gamblin peoples hard earned money.......wow....just wow😡😡😡

Mad Puppy**

Terrible

stirred but not shaken

The reason I brought some of this up, is because the YouTube video produced by "jason zelda" suggests that the WT Corp are responsible for the investments and seemingly did the investing themselves. If so it is incriminating. If they are benefiting from a trust, it would be slightly different. If the trust is a JW, then they're choice of stocks should be up for review. What I'd like to know is whether the WT Corp does invest in the market. How would we know? Wt financial transparency is elusive. If these stock purchases by the Wt are true, it could be a "biggy". The average JW might not be able to shrug that off so easily...but i know some that would unfortunately.

DATA-DOG

If they gave a shit, the WTBTS could see where all their $$$ comes from. I bet they do know exactly where it all comes from. They just don't care.

Also, if they actually believed in GOD, they would never, NEVER accept any dirty money, or anything questionable. Instead, they would completely rely on Jeehoober to provide. They would even gladly do without, like the apostle Paul, until Jeehoobidoob provides. They would never, ever, EVER, do anything that could be remotely construed as improper. They would rather go completely broke and meet in private homes and rented facilities.

DD

Watchtower stock market investments

Share this