by JUSTAMOM 25 Replies latest jw friends
It just blows me away that the WTS:
1-had a public stock offerring to raise cash when we were always lead to believe that they are a not-for-profit corporation
2-some (maybe the majority) stockholders controlling the corporation aren't JWs
3-the WTS thinks they can keep this quiet indefinately
Hmmmmm.........
Peter Stride
Toronto, Canada
jurs,
To Seeker, How did these people become members able to vote ?
To be honest, I'm not sure how a person becomes a voting member nowadays.
and what did they vote on ?
Please note, we are not talking about GB voting matters here. The members of the corporation gather once a year, in person or by proxy, at the annual meeting to vote on corporation matters. Basically, when the officers of the corporation have their terms expiring, the members have to vote on either keeping that officer in place or voting someone else in. In practice, the expiring officers are always voted back in. It's a rubber-stamp affair. And that's all this is, a legal stockhold's meeting, and nothing else. Takes about 30 minutes, once a year.
Stock shares ??? I never knew their was stock.
Well, any corporation has stock, even companies that don't go public, like the WTS. The shares aren't worth anything if it doesn't go public, but exists merely as a form of control of the corporation in the aggregate.
How did you guys find this out ?
I was in Bethel, and I have been to the annual meetings where they announce the voting results and give the membership numbers (how many of them are anointed, etc.)
Do most JW's know this ? Perhaps the information was in a watchtower that I never read or mentioned in a meeting I missed.
It's in the Watchtower every year, in a box that calls for attendance at the annual meeting in early October, or else sending in your proxy votes.
Do these shareholders get to keep the money that they may make ?
Has anyone been able to look up the stock and see what its worth??
What money? The stock has no real monetary value, for it's not a public company.
peterstride,
It just blows me away that the WTS:1-had a public stock offerring to raise cash when we were always lead to believe that they are a not-for-profit corporation
They didn't do that, they are a not-for-profit corporation, and there was no public stock offering of the type you are thinking.
2-some (maybe the majority) stockholders controlling the corporation aren't JWs
Not true. All voting members are JWs.
3-the WTS thinks they can keep this quiet indefinately
Nothing to keep quiet. They announce it in the Watchtower every year.
Some strange misinformation in this thread. Let's keep things accurate, ok?
OK Seeker,
Maybe I didn't understand everything properly.
From what I read:
-wasn't it stated that before 1945 anyone (meaning non-JWs) could also buy shares?
-if anyone could buy shares, isn't that a public offerring?
-if there are shares involved, doesn't that mean that the corporation (at least the part of it that has the shares) is not a non-profit corporation?
-if there are non-JWs that vote, then isn't the society trying to hide it by omitting that? (Lying by omission)
If what I stated above is not true, then please explain it, by going back to the original statements that were made (by someone else), and debunk them point by point.
Thanks Seeker, and hope to hear from you soon,
Peter STride
Toronto, Canada
Peter,
I think the misunderstanding is over the timing. Yes, many decades ago, you could pay your money and get a voting share. I suppose worldly people could join in, though why any worldly person might want to do this is totally beyond me. Most worldly people have never heard of the the WTS, let alone want to join for some odd reason.
However, that arrangement is long dead. No money is involved now, and no worldly people are voting members. The statements made at the start of this thread are no longer true in any way.
All of this information can be found in WTS publications. Nothing is hidden in this area that I'm aware of.
Point taken...thanks Seeker.
Peter Stride
